Hsbc Global Res Upgrades Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) to “Strong-Buy”

Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

MLM has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays upped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Loop Capital upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $655.77.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of MLM stock opened at $550.92 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials has a 1 year low of $479.67 and a 1 year high of $633.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $578.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $555.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 17.4% during the 2nd quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 431 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $444,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 614.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 200 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 172 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 16.8% during the second quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,048 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $591,000 after acquiring an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 103.5% in the second quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,165 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,257,000 after acquiring an additional 2,118 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.