Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Upgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

MLM has been the topic of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price target for the company. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.85.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $597.81 on Thursday. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52-week low of $456.83 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The company has a market cap of $36.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.63, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $565.21 and its 200 day moving average is $556.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.85%.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter worth about $734,000. Peak Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,710,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 35.3% during the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,843 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 465,703 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $252,318,000 after acquiring an additional 11,749 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter worth $1,601,000. 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.