Guggenheim Capital LLC Buys 118 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Guggenheim Capital LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,527 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 118 shares during the quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $1,607,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Family Firm Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.5% during the first quarter. Family Firm Inc. now owns 653 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,982 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $670,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,141 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 10,526 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,737,000 after buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Trust N.A. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Trust N.A. now owns 1,505 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 33 shares in the last quarter. 93.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MLM opened at $446.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 2.21 and a quick ratio of 1.55. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 1 year low of $298.32 and a 1 year high of $463.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $450.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $400.63. The firm has a market cap of $27.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.90.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $5.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.83 by $0.77. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 14.68% and a return on equity of 13.42%. The business had revenue of $1.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.82 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.96 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.66. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 31st. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 17.32%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $460.00 to $527.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $460.00 to $530.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $410.00 to $493.00 in a report on Friday, July 14th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $475.00 to $525.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 26th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $471.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 1,934 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.68, for a total transaction of $834,869.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 9,731 shares in the company, valued at $4,200,678.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $447.09, for a total transaction of $223,545.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,665 shares in the company, valued at $5,215,304.85. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Craig M. Latorre sold 1,934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.68, for a total value of $834,869.12. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 9,731 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,200,678.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.59% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Martin Marietta Materials Company 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.