Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at B. Riley

Stock analysts at B. Riley initiated coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a “hold” rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on MLM. Wall Street Zen downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $690.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $670.63.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of MLM opened at $652.35 on Thursday. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $668.83. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $626.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $612.04. The stock has a market cap of $39.34 billion, a PE ratio of 34.39 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.97.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $5.97 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.62 by ($0.65). The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.34%. Analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,442,945 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,691,139,000 after purchasing an additional 93,595 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,955,139 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,622,254,000 after buying an additional 10,445 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,825,325 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,550,990,000 after buying an additional 56,353 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,365,832 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,491,136,000 after buying an additional 25,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,204,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,389,428,000 after acquiring an additional 192,637 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc (NYSE: MLM) is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value‑added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready‑mixed concrete and related materials and services.