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

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) was downgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report released on Saturday.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $610.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.1%

MLM stock opened at $547.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $33.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12 month low of $441.95 and a 12 month high of $633.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $515.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $524.82.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.02. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.54% and a return on equity of 12.11%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.93 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total transaction of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, with a total value of $249,903.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,082,514.45. This represents a 6.52% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.