Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Increases Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 19.0% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 12,292 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $7,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 370.0% during the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 47 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 67.9% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 47 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Reflection Asset Management purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Osterweis Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on MLM. Citigroup reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $737.00 to $690.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, August 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $581.00 to $609.00 in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $680.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Martin Marietta Materials to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $667.53.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.6%

MLM opened at $510.46 on Friday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $491.61 and a 52-week high of $710.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $544.86 and its 200-day moving average is $579.58.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.43 EPS. Analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.26%.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of construction aggregates and other building materials. The company produces crushed stone, sand and gravel used in infrastructure, commercial, residential and industrial construction projects.

Its products and services also include cement, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and paving materials. Martin Marietta serves customers involved in roads, bridges, airports, buildings and other essential infrastructure, with operations concentrated across several regions of the United States.

The company was established in 1993 as an independent, publicly traded materials business formed from the construction materials operations of Martin Marietta Corporation.