Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Hits New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $680.00 to $650.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Martin Marietta Materials traded as low as $469.79 and last traded at $472.6340, with a volume of 702 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $472.40.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on MLM. Raymond James Financial set a $660.00 target price on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $620.00 to $530.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Wolfe Research set a $648.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $644.71.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of MLM. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,706,134,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,411,047,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $199,321,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $143,897,000. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $130,292,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $510.75 and its 200-day moving average price is $558.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $28.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.08.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 17.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.26%.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a producer and supplier of construction materials used in infrastructure, commercial, residential, and industrial projects. The company’s principal products include crushed stone, sand, gravel, cement, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, and related paving materials.

The company serves customers primarily across the United States, with operations concentrated in major markets experiencing demand for transportation infrastructure, building construction, and other development projects.