Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd Buys New Position in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,933 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,204,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,524,853,000 after purchasing an additional 836,120 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $354,681,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,340,677 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,284,938,000 after purchasing an additional 565,856 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,570.3% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 108,167 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $68,175,000 after purchasing an additional 115,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 748.5% during the 3rd quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 124,963 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $78,762,000 after purchasing an additional 110,236 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MLM. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $615.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $804.00 to $731.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $785.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $681.94.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM opened at $588.64 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a one year low of $525.38 and a one year high of $710.97. The company has a 50-day moving average of $589.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $618.77. The stock has a market cap of $35.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.03, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 1.11.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.31 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 38.67% and a return on equity of 10.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc (NYSE: MLM) is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value‑added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready‑mixed concrete and related materials and services.