Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.08.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.7 %

MLM opened at $516.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $573.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $553.07. Martin Marietta Materials has a one year low of $479.67 and a one year high of $633.23. The stock has a market cap of $31.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.89.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MLM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 534,801 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $295,397,000 after purchasing an additional 9,908 shares during the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 8.0% in the 3rd quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,021 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,394,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 89.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,008 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,310,000 after purchasing an additional 3,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $197,000. 95.04% of the stock is 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.