Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Upgraded at Hsbc Global Res

Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

MLM has been the subject of a number of other reports. Barclays increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Loop Capital increased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $655.77.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $550.92 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $33.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.89. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $578.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $555.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12-month low of $479.67 and a 12-month high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.94 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.85%.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 534,801 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $295,397,000 after buying an additional 9,908 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,021 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,394,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 89.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,008 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,778 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $197,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

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.