StockNews.com Downgrades Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) to Sell

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report issued on Wednesday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $640.00 to $630.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Loop Capital upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $648.71.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MLM traded down $1.66 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $540.51. 309,348 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 355,547. Martin Marietta Materials has a twelve month low of $490.05 and a twelve month high of $633.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $33.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $548.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $551.33.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 447 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,123 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.