Citigroup Cuts Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Price Target to $600.00

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) had its target price decreased by Citigroup from $701.00 to $600.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MLM. HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Two investment 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $643.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MLM opened at $517.31 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $31.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.12, 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 quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. Martin Marietta Materials has a 1 year low of $488.30 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $568.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $551.88.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted 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 analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.85%.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing 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 valued at approximately $33,000. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Tobam lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 38.8% during the third quarter. Tobam now owns 93 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. 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.