Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $629.82.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on MLM shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 17th.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $545.40 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials has a one year low of $389.90 and a one year high of $626.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $540.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $566.21. The firm has a market cap of $33.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.16, a P/E/G ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.36 by ($0.60). The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 30.80%. The firm’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.60 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.33 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $166,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,757,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 228,775 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $123,950,000 after purchasing an additional 4,939 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 41.5% in the 2nd quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 28,616 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,504,000 after purchasing an additional 8,387 shares during the period. 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.