Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 5.6% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,266 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 968 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $9,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 158.2% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 43,952 shares of the construction company's stock worth $23,657,000 after buying an additional 26,929 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company's stock worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 18.3% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,224 shares of the construction company's stock worth $659,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 20.4% during the third quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 12,871 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $6,509,000 after purchasing an additional 2,183 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.8% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 425 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $3.36 on Thursday, reaching $556.82. The company had a trading volume of 280,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 444,452. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $34.03 billion, a PE ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 3.94 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $478.53 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $577.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $555.96.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.94 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 9.85%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MLM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $690.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital boosted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $730.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $655.77.

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.