Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 38 Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 231 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 38 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Martin Marietta Materials were worth $119,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MLM. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $491.15 on Thursday. Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. has a 12 month low of $482.72 and a 12 month high of $633.23. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $527.89 and its 200-day moving average is $546.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $30.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.19, a PEG ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. Equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.64%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.77%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MLM. StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BNP Paribas downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $639.43.

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.