Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eighteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $670.6250.

MLM has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $690.00 price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $754.00 to $758.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $725.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.6% during the third quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 2,731 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,721,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 10.4% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 181 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $99,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 448 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $283,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.9% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 646 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $407,000 after buying an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 731 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $461,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of MLM opened at $652.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a current ratio of 2.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $626.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $612.80. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52 week low of $441.95 and a 52 week high of $668.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $39.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.39 and a beta of 1.15.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.50%.

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.