Brokerages Set Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Price Target at $665.29

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $665.2941.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MLM. Wall Street Zen lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Stephens cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

MLM opened at $528.56 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $31.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $564.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $591.62. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52-week low of $522.19 and a 52-week high of $710.97.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 8.16%.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 1,920 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,209,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 424 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $264,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 67 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 495 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $291,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,186 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,361,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.