Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Raises Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 20.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 12,871 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 2,183 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $6,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM traded down $1.21 on Friday, hitting $581.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 397,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,543. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12-month low of $458.58 and a 12-month high of $633.23. The company has a market capitalization of $35.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $575.82 and a 200-day moving average of $556.15.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.94 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MLM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $730.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $644.46.

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.