Hsbc Holdings PLC Invests $68.54 Million in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. $MLM

Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 118,981 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $68,541,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $3,650,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 14,332.7% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 77,792 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $48,438,000 after buying an additional 77,253 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $18,636,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 buying an additional 836,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 126,524 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,272,000 after purchasing an additional 5,227 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on MLM shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $616.00 to $581.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $737.00 to $690.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Raymond James Financial set a $660.00 price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $665.29.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE MLM opened at $532.74 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $565.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $592.76. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $32.00 billion, a PE ratio of 13.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.11. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 52 week low of $522.19 and a 52 week high of $710.97.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.24. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.43 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 8.16%.

Martin Marietta Materials Profile

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.