Short Interest in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Increases By 19.7%

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,640,000 shares, an increase of 19.7% from the February 13th total of 1,370,000 shares. Approximately 2.7% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 505,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock traded down $1.03 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $487.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 602,366 shares, compared to its average volume of 457,909. Martin Marietta Materials has a one year low of $448.50 and a one year high of $633.23. The company has a market capitalization of $29.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.09, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $513.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $540.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. On average, research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.77%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. This represents a 27.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% in the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 1,336 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $690,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $527,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 447 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

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.