Franklin Resources Inc. Increases Stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 1.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 534,801 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,908 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.88% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $295,397,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $49,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.77.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $550.92 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. The company has a fifty day moving average of $579.17 and a 200 day moving average of $555.67. The company has a market capitalization of $33.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.67 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.85%.

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.