Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, a growth of 19.7% from the February 13th total of 1,370,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 505,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days. Approximately 2.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MLM. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price objective for the company. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $628.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. The trade was a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MLM traded up $2.73 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $490.92. 528,923 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 458,509. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $513.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $540.31. The company has a market capitalization of $29.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.18, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12 month low of $448.50 and a 12 month high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.77%.

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.