Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. supplies aggregates products and heavy building materials for the construction industry in the United States and internationally. It operates through Mid-America Group, Southeast Group, West Group, Cement, and Magnesia Specialties segments. The company mines, processes, and sells granite, limestone, sand, gravel, and other aggregate products for use in the public infrastructure, and nonresidential and residential construction industries, as well as in the agriculture, railroad ballast, chemical, and other applications. It also offers asphalt products, ready mixed concrete, and road paving construction services; and produces Portland and specialty cements for use in infrastructure projects, and nonresidential and residential construction, as well as in the railroad, agricultural, utility, and environmental industries. In addition, the company manufactures and markets magnesia-based chemical products for the industrial, agricultural, and environmental applications; and dolomitic lime primarily for use in the steel industry. Its chemical products are used in flame retardants, wastewater treatment, pulp and paper production, and other environmental applications. The company was founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina.
(Summary) (Company) (Chart)

2 March 2017
Price $219.02
1yr Target ---
Analysts ---
Dividend $1.68
Payout Ratio 25.33%

1yr Cap Gain ---
Yield 0.76%
1yr Tot Return ---

P/E 33.03
PEG 1.64
Beta 1.34

EPS (ttm) $6.63
EPS next yr $10.60
Forward P/E 20.67
EPS next 5yr 20.15%
1yr Price Support $213.59

Market Cap $13.81 Bil
Revenues $3.82 Bil
Earnings ---
Profit Margin ---

Quick Ratio 1.00
Current Ratio 2.00
Debt/Equity 0.41

1yr RevGR 7.88%
3yr RevGR 20.77%
5yr RevGR 17.38%

1yr EarnGR 54.54%
3yr EarnGR 36.02%
5yr EarnGR 30.08%

1yr DivGR 2.50%
3yr DivGR 0.81%
5yr DivGR 0.49%

ROA ---
ROE ---

Business
 
Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. is a leading supplier of aggregates products (crushed stone, sand, and gravel) used for the construction of infrastructure, nonresidential, and residential projects. Aggregates products are also used for railroad ballast and in agricultural, utility and environmental applications. The Company’s Aggregates business consists primarily of mining, processing, and selling granite, limestone, sand and gravel. The Aggregates business also includes aggregates-related downstream product lines (including its heavy building materials such as asphalt products, ready mixed concrete, and road paving construction services).

The Company is also a leading supplier of cement, ready mixed concrete, and asphalt and paving services in some regions where being able to supply a full range of products is important for customer service. The Company’s Cement business produces Portland and specialty cements.

The Company also has a Magnesia Specialties business that manufactures and markets magnesia-based chemical products used in industrial, agricultural, and environmental applications, and dolomitic lime sold primarily to customers in the steel industry.

The Company was formed in 1993 as a North Carolina corporation to serve as successor to the operations of the materials group of the organization that is now Lockheed Martin Corporation. An initial public offering of a portion of the Company’s Common Stock was completed in 1994, followed by a tax-free exchange transaction in 1996 that resulted in 100% of the Company’s Common Stock being publicly traded.

The Company completed over 85 smaller acquisitions from the time of its initial public offering until the present, which allowed the Company to enhance and expand its presence in the aggregates marketplace. This included an exchange of certain assets in 2011 with Lafarge North America Inc., pursuant to which it received aggregates quarry sites, ready mixed concrete and asphalt plants, and a road paving business in and around the metropolitan Denver, Colorado, and the I-25 corridor, in exchange for which Lafarge received properties consisting of quarries, an asphalt plant and distribution yards operated by the Company along the Mississippi River and a cash payment. The Company uses its ability to distribute materials over long distances by rail and water to further expand its operations.

The business has developed further through the following transactions over the past five years.

• In 2013, the Company acquired three aggregates quarries in the greater Atlanta, Georgia, area. The transaction provided over 800 million tons of permitted aggregate reserves and enhanced the Company’s existing long-term position in this market.
• In 2014, the Company completed the acquisition of Texas Industries, Inc., further augmenting its position as a leading supplier of aggregates and heavy building materials. TXI, as a stand-alone entity, was a leading supplier of heavy construction materials in the southwestern United States and a major supplier of natural aggregates and ready mixed concrete in Texas, northern Louisiana and, to a lesser extent, in Oklahoma and Arkansas. TXI was the largest supplier of ready mixed concrete, concrete products and cement in Texas. TXI enhanced the Company’s position as an aggregates-led, low-cost operator in the large and fast-growing geographies in the United States and provided high-quality assets in cement and ready mixed concrete.
• In addition to the Cement business, the Company acquired as part of the TXI acquisition nine quarries and six aggregates distribution terminals located in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The Company also acquired approximately 120 ready mixed concrete plants, situated primarily in three areas of Texas (the Dallas/Fort Worth/Denton area of north Texas; the Austin area of central Texas; and from Beaumont to Texarkana in east Texas), in north and central Louisiana and in Southwestern Arkansas. As part of an agreement with the United States Department of Justice’s review of the transaction, the Company divested of its North Troy Quarry in Oklahoma and two related rail distribution yards in Dallas and Frisco, Texas.
• TXI was also a cement producer in California. In 2015, the Company divested its California cement business acquired from TXI. These operations were not in close proximity to other core assets of the Company and, unlike other marketplace competitors, were not vertically integrated with ready mixed concrete production. The divestiture primarily included a cement plant, two distribution terminals, mobile equipment, intangible assets and inventory. The Company also completed the integration of the TXI operations in 2015, and completed three smaller acquisitions, which included three aggregates operations and related assets.
• In 2016, the Company acquired aggregates, ready mixed concrete and asphalt and paving operations in southern Colorado that provided more than 500 million tons of mineral reserves and expanded the Company’s presence along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains, home to 80% of Colorado’s population. The Company also acquired the remaining interest it had not previously owned in a ready mixed concrete company that serves the I-35 corridor in central Texas between Dallas and Austin, which enhanced the Company’s position and provided additional vertical integration benefits with the Company’s Cement business.
• Between 2001 and 2016, the Company disposed of or idled a number of underperforming operations, including aggregates, ready mixed concrete, trucking, and asphalt and road paving operations of its Aggregates business and the refractories business of its Magnesia Specialties business. In some of its divestitures, the Company concurrently entered into supply agreements to provide aggregates at market rates to certain of these divested businesses. During 2015, the Company disposed of certain non-core asphalt operations in San Antonio, Texas and divested its California cement operations of its Cement business. The Company will continue to evaluate opportunities to divest underperforming assets, if appropriate, during 2017 in an effort to redeploy capital for other opportunities. 

Business Segments

The Company conducts its Aggregates business through three reportable segments: the Mid-America Group, Southeast Group and West Group. The Company’s Cement business is reported through the Cement segment. The Company also has the Magnesia Specialties segment, which includes its magnesia-based chemicals and dolomitic lime businesses. 

Aggregates Business

The Aggregates business mines, processes and sells granite, limestone, sand, gravel and other aggregates products for use in all sectors of the public infrastructure, nonresidential and residential construction industries, as well as agriculture, railroad ballast, chemical and other uses. The Aggregates business also includes the operation of other construction materials businesses. These businesses, located in the West Group, were acquired through continued selective vertical integration by the Company, and include ready mixed concrete, and asphalt and road paving operations in Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Texas and Wyoming. 

The Company is a leading supplier of aggregates for the construction industry in the United States. In 2016, the Company’s Aggregates business shipped and delivered aggregates, asphalt products and ready mixed concrete from a network of nearly 300 quarries, underground mines, and distribution facilities, and approximately 150 ready mixed concrete plants, to customers in 29 states, Canada, and the Bahamas, generating net sales and earnings from operations of $3.1 billion and $576.0 million, respectively.

The Aggregates and Cement businesses market their products primarily to the construction industry, with approximately 39% of the aggregates product line shipments in 2016 made to contractors in connection with highway and other public infrastructure projects and the balance of its shipments made primarily to contractors in connection with nonresidential and residential construction projects. The Company believes public-works projects have historically accounted for approximately 50% of the total annual aggregates and cement consumption in the United States.  

Cement Business

The Cement business produces Portland and specialty cements. Cement is the basic binding agent for concrete, a primary construction material. The principal raw material used in the production of cement is calcium carbonate in the form of limestone. The Company owns more than 600 million tons of limestone reserves adjacent to its two cement production plants in Texas. Similar to the Aggregates business, cement is used in infrastructure projects, nonresidential and residential construction, and the railroad, agricultural, utility and environmental industries. Consequently, the cement industry is cyclical and dependent on the strength of the construction sector. 

Magnesia Specialties Business

The Company manufactures and markets, through its Magnesia Specialties business, magnesia-based chemical products for industrial, agricultural and environmental applications, and dolomitic lime for use primarily in the steel industry. These chemical products have varying uses, including flame retardants, wastewater treatment, pulp and paper production and other environmental applications. In 2016, 69% of Magnesia Specialties’ net sales were attributable to chemical products, 30% to lime, and 1% to stone sold as construction materials. For 2016, the Magnesia Specialties business generated record net sales and earnings from operations of $238.0 million and $79.1 million, respectively.