Kentucky Retirement Systems Reduces Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 8.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,258 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 387 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $2,292,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the third 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 period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 114.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 980,699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $602,092,000 after purchasing an additional 523,038 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,681 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $337,903,000 after purchasing an additional 12,759 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in 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 worth $251,784,000 after buying an additional 164,503 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 465,703 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $252,318,000 after buying an additional 11,749 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of MLM stock opened at $583.03 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $557.57 and its 200 day moving average price is $556.67. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1-year low of $451.37 and a 1-year high of $633.23. The company has a market cap of $35.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.90 and a beta of 0.90. 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 posted 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 company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The business’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.94 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. StockNews.com raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.85.

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.