Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor Makes New $123.36 Million Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 213,905 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $123,359,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor owned approximately 0.36% of Martin Marietta Materials as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Flputnam Investment Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter worth $239,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at $300,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at $199,321,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,018,000. Finally, Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $532,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on MLM. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Wolfe Research set a $648.00 price objective on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $668.53.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $549.01 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $572.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $599.82. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $523.48 and a 1 year high of $710.97.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.43 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.16%.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc (NYSE: MLM) is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value‑added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready‑mixed concrete and related materials and services.