Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Stock Price

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $657.00 to $622.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the construction company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential upside of 16.12% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on MLM. Hsbc Global Res raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays increased 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. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.08.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $535.64 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $32.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials has a one year low of $479.67 and a one year high of $633.23. The business has a fifty day moving average of $580.24 and a two-hundred day moving average of $555.15. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS 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 company 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 firm posted $6.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 534,801 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $295,397,000 after purchasing an additional 9,908 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 8.0% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,021 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,394,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 89.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,008 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,310,000 after acquiring an additional 3,778 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $197,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 8,220 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,914,000 after acquiring an additional 1,286 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.