Raymond James Has Lowered Expectations for Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Stock Price

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) had its price target lowered by analysts at Raymond James from $640.00 to $630.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “outperform” rating on the construction company’s stock. Raymond James’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 15.95% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on MLM. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $648.71.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $543.33 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. The firm has a market cap of $33.21 billion, a PE ratio of 16.93, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials has a one year low of $490.05 and a one year high of $633.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $555.95 and a 200 day moving average of $550.86.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.6 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.4% in the 4th quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,241 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 38.5% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,208 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,657,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 8,691 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,489,000 after buying an additional 182 shares in the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,753 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,455,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the period. Finally, Red Spruce Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Red Spruce Capital LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,404,000 after acquiring an additional 186 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.