Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Raymond James reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $640.00 to $630.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $648.71.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.2 %

MLM stock opened at $546.39 on Wednesday. Martin Marietta Materials has a twelve month low of $490.05 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 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. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $548.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $551.33.

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). 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.94 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% in the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by 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.