Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report report published on Tuesday.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $690.00 to $675.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 15th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 13th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. UBS Group set a $739.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Sunday, May 10th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 target price on Martin Marietta Materials and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $681.53.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $583.97 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.28 and a quick ratio of 1.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $577.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $609.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $35.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.10. Martin Marietta Materials has a one year low of $525.38 and a one year high of $710.97.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.78 by $0.15. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 10.27% and a net margin of 38.67%.The firm had revenue of $1.36 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.90 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.43 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 7.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Optima Capital LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 370.0% during the 2nd quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 47 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 67.9% during the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 47 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. Garton & Associates Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Reflection Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

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.