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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Wolfe Research upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $648.71.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.3 %

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $540.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $33.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $548.40 and a 200-day moving average of $551.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Martin Marietta Materials has a one year low of $490.05 and a one year high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The business’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% in the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC increased 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 buying an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. 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.