Analysts Set Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Target Price at $629.82

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and ten have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $629.82.

MLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $506.07 on Friday. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52 week low of $389.90 and a 52 week high of $626.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $545.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $570.45. The stock has a market cap of $31.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.99, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.36 by ($0.60). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 30.80%. The business had revenue of $1.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.83 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 20.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.36%.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 49,790.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 59,869 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $29,869,000 after buying an additional 59,749 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Gilbert & Cook Inc. now owns 1,436 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $716,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 6.8% during the fourth quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 923 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 1,169 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $583,000 after buying an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cannell & Co. grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 155.3% in the 4th quarter. Cannell & Co. now owns 4,110 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after buying an additional 2,500 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.