Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Lifted 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 report published on Tuesday morning.

A number of other research firms have also commented on MLM. Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $629.82.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MLM opened at $546.29 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $33.67 billion, a PE ratio of 16.19, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials has a 1 year low of $389.90 and a 1 year high of $626.67. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $540.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $567.21.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.36 by ($0.60). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 30.80%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.60 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.36%.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth $308,705,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 114.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 980,699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $602,092,000 after buying an additional 523,038 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 4,244.5% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 277,182 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $138,289,000 after buying an additional 270,802 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 306.8% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 161,690 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $80,668,000 after buying an additional 121,941 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 247.5% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 148,827 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $80,634,000 after acquiring an additional 106,002 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.