Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (MLM) – What Are Researchers Thinking About This Stock?

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have issued a hold recommendation and thirteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $642.65.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stephens lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Martin Marietta Materials to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $585.00 to $579.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $730.00 to $625.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $690.00 to $610.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 2nd.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of MLM stock opened at $499.97 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $30.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.28, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.08. Martin Marietta Materials has a twelve month low of $464.92 and a twelve month high of $710.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $507.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $557.06.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 36.73%. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company 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 predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 18.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were issued a $0.84 dividend. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.26%.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,650,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.6% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 118,981 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $68,541,000 after purchasing an additional 7,361 shares during the period. National Pension Service increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.4% in the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 95,221 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $54,914,000 after purchasing an additional 5,739 shares during the period. Montanova Capital LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth about $14,994,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth about $1,411,047,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.