Whittier Trust Co. Purchases 1,045 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Whittier Trust Co. grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 7.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 14,653 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,045 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $7,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 664 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of 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. increased its position in shares of 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 increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 555 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $300,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 680 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MLM. BNP Paribas raised Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Stephens cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Citigroup cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $619.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM opened at $577.53 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $389.90 and a 52-week high of $626.67. The stock has a market cap of $35.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.11, a PEG ratio of 3.68 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a fifty day moving average of $534.05 and a 200 day moving average of $557.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.36 by ($0.60). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 30.80%. The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.60 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.33 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.36%.

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.