Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Cuts Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,731 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,591 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $21,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $216,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 307.5% in the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 12,909 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $6,172,000 after purchasing an additional 9,741 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.2% in the first quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 877 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 82.6% during the first quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 28,691 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $13,675,000 after purchasing an additional 12,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the first quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 6,379 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,091,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $628.96 on Monday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $441.95 and a 52 week high of $665.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The stock has a market cap of $37.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.16 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $619.07 and a 200-day moving average of $596.63.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $5.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.62 by ($0.65). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 11.68%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. On average, analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on MLM. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $730.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $705.00 to $723.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.31.

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.