Two Sigma Advisers LP Increases Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 57,300 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP owned 0.09% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $30,842,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Kovack Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $734,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 12,936 shares of the construction company's stock worth $6,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 465,703 shares of the construction company's stock worth $252,318,000 after acquiring an additional 11,749 shares during the last quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC now owns 193,588 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $104,199,000 after purchasing an additional 4,080 shares during the period. Finally, Swedbank AB raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 326.4% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 3,492 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,880,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MLM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $730.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $644.46.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $1.21 on Friday, reaching $581.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 397,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,543. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52-week low of $458.58 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The company has a market cap of $35.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $575.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $556.15. 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 quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.94 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials's revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

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

Martin Marietta Materials 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.