Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Sell”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Monday.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday. 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. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $710.00 to $630.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $624.18.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM stock opened at $539.80 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $550.65 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $569.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 3.16. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52-week low of $389.90 and a 52-week high of $626.67. The stock has a market cap of $33.27 billion, a PE ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.36 by ($0.60). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $5.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 22.86 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at $22,265,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 25.3% during the fourth quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,562 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,728 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 49.7% during the fourth quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 5,672 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,830,000 after purchasing an additional 1,882 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 166.1% in the fourth quarter. Simplicity Solutions LLC now owns 2,725 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,170,166 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,577,268,000 after purchasing an additional 69,701 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is 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.