Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 76.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,628,701 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 704,460 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 2.66% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $876,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.8% in the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 664 shares of the construction company's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% during the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 167 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.7% during the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 555 shares of the construction company's stock worth $300,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.0% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 680 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MLM shares. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Truist Financial cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $634.85.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM traded up $3.84 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $621.15. The stock had a trading volume of 324,779 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,603. The company has a market cap of $37.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.86 and a beta of 0.90. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $444.14 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $545.48 and a 200 day moving average of $556.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the business posted $6.94 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is 9.85%.

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.