Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $634.85.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MLM. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. BNP Paribas raised Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $560.00 to $515.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Loop Capital increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of MLM opened at $606.84 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.91, a PEG ratio of 4.14 and a beta of 0.90. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52 week low of $451.37 and a 52 week high of $633.23. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $550.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $556.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.94 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.84 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be paid a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Peak Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth about $2,710,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 147,963 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $90,840,000 after buying an additional 6,263 shares during the last quarter. M&G Plc purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $41,142,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 35.3% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 3,843 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,359,000 after acquiring an additional 1,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 465,703 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $252,318,000 after acquiring an additional 11,749 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.