Eastern Bank Makes New Investment in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Eastern Bank purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 127 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% in the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the period. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 186.4% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 63 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter worth about $41,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.1 %

MLM opened at $570.21 on Friday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $389.90 and a 12 month high of $626.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $35.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.90, a P/E/G ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.91. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $536.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $556.84.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.36 by ($0.60). The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.80% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.36%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. BNP Paribas raised Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $619.36.

Martin Marietta Materials 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.