Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC Purchases 5,414 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 20.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,872 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,414 shares during the quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Martin Marietta Materials worth $15,239,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 193.9% during the 1st quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 97 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $45,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $609.00 to $637.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $525.00 price target (up from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $625.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $622.63.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $609.68 on Friday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a twelve month low of $441.95 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The firm has a market cap of $36.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.81, a PEG ratio of 5.59 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a 50 day moving average of $567.83 and a 200 day moving average of $530.81. The company has a quick ratio of 1.21, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.44 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $1.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.88 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 11.88%. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.76 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.53%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total transaction of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 15,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,455,554.44. The trade was a 6.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

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.