Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $629.82.

MLM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. BNP Paribas upgraded Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Loop Capital cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,170,166 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,577,268,000 after purchasing an additional 69,701 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 114.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 980,699 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $602,092,000 after acquiring an additional 523,038 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.1% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,681 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $337,903,000 after acquiring an additional 12,759 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 465,703 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $252,318,000 after acquiring an additional 11,749 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% during the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 374,811 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $203,073,000 after acquiring an additional 3,598 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $538.25 on Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $389.90 and a fifty-two week high of $626.67. The stock has a market cap of $33.18 billion, a PE ratio of 15.80, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $538.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $564.45.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.36 by ($0.60). The firm had revenue of $1.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 13.85% and a net margin of 30.80%. The company’s revenue was down 3.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 3rd. This is an increase from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 9.36%.

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.