Short Interest in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Increases By 19.7%

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, a growth of 19.7% from the February 13th total of 1,370,000 shares. Currently, 2.7% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 505,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.2 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday. 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $690.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $559.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $628.64.

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Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.68% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $876,648,000 after purchasing an additional 704,460 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 36,031 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $19,394,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.1% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 1,963 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter valued at about $1,601,000. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 16.5% in the third quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 438 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:MLM traded down $6.29 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $477.49. 857,512 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 461,030. The company has a market capitalization of $29.11 billion, a PE ratio of 14.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $448.50 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $511.26 and a 200 day simple moving average of $539.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

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.