Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Upgraded at HSBC

HSBC upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report published on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. HSBC currently has $690.00 price target on the construction company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective 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. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 target price on the stock. Loop Capital upped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $655.77.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM opened at $550.92 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $578.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $555.97. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12-month low of $479.67 and a 12-month high of $633.23. The stock has a market cap of $33.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.17, a PEG ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.89. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.57%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 334,605 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $876,648,000 after acquiring an additional 704,460 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.1% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,681 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $337,903,000 after acquiring an additional 12,759 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position 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 valued at $295,397,000 after buying an additional 9,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 467,782 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $251,784,000 after acquiring 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.