Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 534,801 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,908 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $295,397,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,353,936,000 after purchasing an additional 334,605 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $876,648,000 after buying an additional 704,460 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,681 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $337,903,000 after buying an additional 12,759 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 467,782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $251,784,000 after acquiring an additional 164,503 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 465,703 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $252,318,000 after acquiring an additional 11,749 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $550.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $33.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.89. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $579.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $555.67. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $479.67 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MLM has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. StockNews.com raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $655.77.

Martin Marietta Materials Profile

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.