Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Raised to “Hold” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Stephens reduced their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $615.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Martin Marietta Materials currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $624.18.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE:MLM opened at $542.82 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $548.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $570.09. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52-week low of $389.90 and a 52-week high of $626.67. The firm has a market cap of $33.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.08, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.36 by ($0.60). The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 31.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 22.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a $0.79 dividend. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.8% during the second quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 664 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 13.6% in the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 167 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. TFG Advisers LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.7% during the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 555 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 680 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,170 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently 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.