StockNews.com Downgrades Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) to Sell

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

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. BNP Paribas upgraded Martin Marietta Materials to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. 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 note on Monday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $630.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $629.82.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MLM opened at $539.11 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $538.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $565.00. The company has a market cap of $33.23 billion, a PE ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12 month low of $389.90 and a 12 month high of $626.67.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Global Assets Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the first quarter valued at $22,265,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 25.3% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 8,562 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,272,000 after buying an additional 1,728 shares in the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 49.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,882 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 69,701 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 182.5% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 73,135 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $44,901,000 after purchasing an additional 47,250 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.