Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MLM. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $576.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price (up previously from $515.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $621.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $632.22 on Wednesday. Martin Marietta Materials has a twelve month low of $441.95 and a twelve month high of $640.00. The firm has a market cap of $38.13 billion, a PE ratio of 35.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.75 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 1.21 and a current ratio of 2.35. The business has a fifty day moving average of $615.86 and a 200-day moving average of $562.78.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The construction company reported $5.43 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.44 by ($0.01). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 16.47% and a return on equity of 11.88%. The business had revenue of $1.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.88 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $4.76 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Martin Marietta Materials has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd 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 Tuesday, September 2nd. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.79. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.41%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Laree E. Perez sold 1,038 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $613.32, for a total transaction of $636,626.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 15,417 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,455,554.44. The trade was a 6.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MLM. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 31.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,340,677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,284,938,000 after buying an additional 565,856 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $233,811,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,880.3% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 369,382 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $176,613,000 after purchasing an additional 350,729 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,944,694 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,407,947,000 after purchasing an additional 268,928 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 39.2% during the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 659,363 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $315,261,000 after purchasing an additional 185,731 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.