London Co. of Virginia Decreases Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

London Co. of Virginia trimmed its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 170,480 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,624 shares during the quarter. London Co. of Virginia owned 0.28% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $106,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Optima Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. KERR FINANCIAL PLANNING Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $602.95 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $36.21 billion, a PE ratio of 14.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $589.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $618.63. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $525.38 and a one year high of $710.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 2.28.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.78 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 38.67% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.41 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MLM. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 6th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $804.00 to $731.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. B. Riley Financial raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $700.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $785.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $681.94.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc (NYSE: MLM) is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value‑added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready‑mixed concrete and related materials and services.