KBC Group NV Buys 64,722 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 607.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 75,377 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 64,722 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned about 0.12% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $40,572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.8% during the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 664 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 13.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 167 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.7% in the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 555 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $300,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.0% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 680 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens cut their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective 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 assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.85.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $587.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.94 billion, a PE ratio of 18.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.04 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $554.32 and its 200-day moving average is $556.80. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $451.37 and a 1 year high of $633.23.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.84 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.85%.

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.