Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Shares Down 3.6%

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) shares dropped 3.6% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $589.50 and last traded at $590.70. Approximately 98,122 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 407,917 shares. The stock had previously closed at $612.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stephens upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $600.00 target price (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $610.27.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 2.41 and a current ratio of 3.16. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $602.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $533.12. The firm has a market cap of $35.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.95.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 31.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.16 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 21.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.77%.

Insider Activity at Martin Marietta Materials

In other news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total value of $936,959.52. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total value of $936,959.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 59,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760 over the last ninety days. 0.68% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 66.3% during the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 2,060 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $846,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,065 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 26.3% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 288 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 206.1% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 35,655 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $14,636,000 after acquiring an additional 24,008 shares during the period. Finally, Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.3% during the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 4,097 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,682,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

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.