Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Trims Stock Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund lowered its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,040 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 162 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,252,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 78.8% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 59 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM traded up $10.84 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $576.46. 166,455 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 434,085. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.53 billion, a PE ratio of 16.86, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $389.90 and a one year high of $626.67. The company’s 50 day moving average is $555.38 and its 200 day moving average is $565.07.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.05. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 31.35%. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.16 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 22.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 28th. Investors of record on Monday, June 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 3rd. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.51%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 8.77%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MLM. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $696.00 to $658.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $628.91.

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.