UBS Group Upgrades Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) to “Buy”

UBS Group upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $634.00 price target on the construction company’s stock, up from their previous price target of $548.00.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MLM. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. StockNews.com raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $610.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $564.51 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $34.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.50. The company has a fifty day moving average of $499.71 and a 200-day moving average of $528.22. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.36 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.93 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.56%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at $1,673,425. This trade represents a 27.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro purchased 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the senior vice president now owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. 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.