StockNews.com Upgrades Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) to “Hold”

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Wolfe Research raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $643.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 1.7 %

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $517.31 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.91. 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 has a twelve month low of $488.30 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $568.26 and a 200-day moving average of $551.88.

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). The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The business’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $876,648,000 after buying an additional 704,460 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,353,936,000 after purchasing an additional 334,605 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 7,608.2% during the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 181,373 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $97,624,000 after purchasing an additional 179,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 54.2% during the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 467,782 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $251,784,000 after purchasing an additional 164,503 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.