Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Receives $667.53 Average Target Price from Analysts

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and twelve have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $666.1176.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $625.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,650,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,524,853,000 after acquiring an additional 836,120 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 118,981 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $68,541,000 after acquiring an additional 7,361 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 18.6% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 49,559 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,581,000 after purchasing an additional 7,772 shares during the period. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 690,128 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $429,715,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of MLM opened at $490.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $29.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12 month low of $488.74 and a 12 month high of $710.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $531.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $569.25.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 36.73%.The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 18.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.26%.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of construction aggregates and other building materials. The company produces crushed stone, sand and gravel used in infrastructure, commercial, residential and industrial construction projects.

Its products and services also include cement, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and paving materials. Martin Marietta serves customers involved in roads, bridges, airports, buildings and other essential infrastructure, with operations concentrated across several regions of the United States.

The company was established in 1993 as an independent, publicly traded materials business formed from the construction materials operations of Martin Marietta Corporation.