In a 13G just filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, John Griffin’s Blue Ridge Capital, L.L.C. disclosed a 5.53%, or 2,530,000 shares in Martin Marietta Materials Inc (NYSE:MLM). The total dollar amount of shares owned by the hedge fund is approximately $170 million. Previously, Blue Ridge held 1.6 million shares in the company.
Based in Raleigh, NC, MLM mines, processes and sells lime used in the construction of different types of infrastructure.
What makes this story more interesting is recent comments on the company from a famous short seller. David Einhorn, CEO of Greenlight Capital, had some harsh words about Marietta Materials Inc (NYSE:MLM), in a recent presentation at The Ira Sohn Conference.
Einhorn stated that Marietta Materials Inc (NYSE:MLM) has “”lots of problems,” and “Recent earnings benefited from one time fiscal stimulus that is about to wind down.”
Einhorn recommended shorting shares of the company. MLM stock fell over 15% at one point, and it was enough to trigger the circuit breaker, which halted trading briefly.
We are not sure about how close the two famous hedge fund managers are. However, at Columbia University’s Pershing Square Challenge in 2010, both Einhorn and Griffin were judges.
Disclosure: The author of this article has no position in Martin Marietta Materials Inc
