Analysts Set Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Price Target at $667.53

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and twelve have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $666.1176.

MLM has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $739.00 to $715.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Monday, August 24th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $625.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 target price on Martin Marietta Materials and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,706,134,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,524,853,000 after purchasing an additional 836,120 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,399,779 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,412,702,000 after purchasing an additional 21,310 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,553,364 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $963,406,000 after purchasing an additional 10,743 shares during the period. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 690,128 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $429,715,000 after purchasing an additional 5,025 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $501.20 on Friday. Martin Marietta Materials has a 1-year low of $488.74 and a 1-year high of $710.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $534.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $571.40. The company has a market capitalization of $30.11 billion, a PE ratio of 12.31, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.10.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.24. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.43 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 18.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 8.26%.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of construction aggregates and other building materials. The company produces crushed stone, sand and gravel used in infrastructure, commercial, residential and industrial construction projects.

Its products and services also include cement, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and paving materials. Martin Marietta serves customers involved in roads, bridges, airports, buildings and other essential infrastructure, with operations concentrated across several regions of the United States.

The company was established in 1993 as an independent, publicly traded materials business formed from the construction materials operations of Martin Marietta Corporation.