Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $690.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Stephens lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $640.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 13th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $642.65.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE:MLM opened at $509.62 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52 week low of $464.92 and a 52 week high of $710.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $30.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.08. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $504.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $555.18.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 36.73%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.43 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 16.29 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. NBT Bank N.A. acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $434,000. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $61,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,405,000. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 74.4% during the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 872 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Finally, Robbins Farley increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.6% during the third quarter. Robbins Farley now owns 12,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,962,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a supplier of construction materials serving the infrastructure, commercial, residential and industrial markets. The company’s primary business is aggregates, including crushed stone, sand and gravel used in roads, bridges, buildings and other construction projects.

Martin Marietta also produces cement, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt products, and provides paving and related construction services in selected markets. Through its Magnesia Specialties business, the company manufactures magnesium-based and dolomitic lime products used in industrial, environmental and agricultural applications.

Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, Martin Marietta Materials became an independent publicly traded company in 1993 following a spin-off from Martin Marietta Corporation.