Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $482.72 and last traded at $507.81, with a volume of 73634 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $529.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.71.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $539.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $550.13.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. On average, analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Asset Dedication LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Hedge funds and other 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.