HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Invests $5.47 Million in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,592 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $5,471,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MLM. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $563.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $599.62.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 2.9 %

Martin Marietta Materials stock traded up $14.00 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $505.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 145,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 485,492. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.62, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $484.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $531.99. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is 9.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,523 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro bought 550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.