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

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seventeen analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $676.6250.

Several analysts have commented on the stock. B. Riley started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $700.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Loop Capital cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $690.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $725.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $690.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MLM opened at $670.07 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $40.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.32 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 2.97 and a quick ratio of 2.07. Martin Marietta Materials has a 1 year low of $441.95 and a 1 year high of $679.56. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $638.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $621.22.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $5.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.62 by ($0.65). The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 11.68% and a net margin of 17.34%. On average, equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $3.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.50%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 31.9% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,340,677 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,284,938,000 after acquiring an additional 565,856 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $233,811,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,204,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,389,428,000 after purchasing an additional 192,637 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,570.3% during the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 108,167 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $68,175,000 after purchasing an additional 115,524 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Freestone Grove Partners LP raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 748.5% during the 3rd quarter. Freestone Grove Partners LP now owns 124,963 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $78,762,000 after buying an additional 110,236 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

About Martin Marietta Materials

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.