Swedbank AB Buys 2,673 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 326.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,492 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,673 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 14.0% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 3,632 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,230,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $298,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $819,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 12,205 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,480,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Finally, Beck Bode LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Beck Bode LLC now owns 8,388 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,150,000 after purchasing an additional 2,395 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $644.46.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM stock opened at $595.35 on Thursday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $456.83 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The firm has a market cap of $36.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.55, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $569.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $556.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.94 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc, a natural resource-based building materials company, supplies aggregates and heavy-side building materials to the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It offers crushed stone, sand, and gravel products; ready mixed concrete and asphalt; paving products and services; and Portland and specialty cement for use in the infrastructure projects, and nonresidential and residential construction markets, as well as in the railroad, agricultural, utility, and environmental industries.