Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) has been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eighteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $650.3125.

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson set a $690.00 price objective on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $670.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $620.00 to $610.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Atika Capital Management LLC raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 30.4% in the 2nd quarter. Atika Capital Management LLC now owns 72,533 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $39,818,000 after purchasing an additional 16,900 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 31.6% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 5,365 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,988,000 after buying an additional 1,287 shares during the period. Tableaux LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $5,060,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.4% in the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 527,968 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $289,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fenimore Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.0% in the second quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc now owns 88,850 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,775,000 after acquiring an additional 5,010 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $619.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.97, a quick ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $618.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $597.96. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12-month low of $441.95 and a 12-month high of $665.18. The stock has a market cap of $37.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.64 and a beta of 1.16.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $5.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.62 by ($0.65). The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 17.34% and a return on equity of 11.68%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.83 per share. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 17.50%.

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.