Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $876.65 Million Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 76.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 704,460 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $876,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 114.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 980,699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $602,092,000 after purchasing an additional 523,038 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 247.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 148,827 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $80,634,000 after buying an additional 106,002 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the first quarter worth about $41,142,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 682.5% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 75,045 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,393,000 after buying an additional 65,454 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 46,996.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 56,516 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,420,000 after acquiring an additional 56,396 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 6.0 %

NYSE:MLM opened at $617.31 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $37.73 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 twelve month low of $439.36 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $545.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $556.16. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced 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). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 3rd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MLM has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.85.

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.