Citigroup Cuts Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Price Target to $600.00

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) had its target price reduced by Citigroup from $701.00 to $600.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

MLM has been the subject of several other research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 1st. BNP Paribas cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $643.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $517.31 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $568.26 and its 200-day moving average price is $551.88. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52-week low of $488.30 and a 52-week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The company’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MLM. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 52 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter valued at $33,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Tobam raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 38.8% in the third quarter. Tobam now owns 93 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

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.