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

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

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on MLM. BNP Paribas cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $643.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE MLM opened at $517.31 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $565.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $551.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $488.30 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Inspire Investing LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.0% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 680 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,123 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $604,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.