Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday.

MLM has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Loop Capital lifted their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $643.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.7 %

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $508.54 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $563.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $551.29. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52 week low of $489.90 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,914,000 after purchasing an additional 1,286 shares during the last quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $734,000. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2,448.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 1,376 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $741,000 after buying an additional 1,322 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 8.5% during the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 12,936 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,963,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 158.2% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 43,952 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $23,657,000 after acquiring an additional 26,929 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.