Avanza Fonder AB Makes New Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Avanza Fonder AB acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,721 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,471,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Inspire Investing LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,123 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,057,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $543.33 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $555.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $550.86. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $490.05 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company 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 business’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.85%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. HSBC upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Loop Capital increased their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.71.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.