Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Rating Increased 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 analysts also recently weighed in on MLM. Morgan Stanley cut 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. Wolfe Research raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday. BNP Paribas lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their target price 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $643.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $508.54 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $31.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.91. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $563.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $551.29. Martin Marietta Materials has a one year low of $489.90 and a one year high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.79 dividend. 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%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Tobam boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 38.8% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 93 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

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.