StockNews.com Downgrades Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) to Sell

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on MLM. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $660.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Stephens lowered their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $629.82.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MLM opened at $539.63 on Wednesday. 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 fifty day moving average price of $538.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $565.39. 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 company has a market cap of $32.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99, a PEG ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The construction company reported $4.76 EPS 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 analyst estimates of $1.83 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.80% and a return on equity of 13.85%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $5.60 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Centaurus Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter worth $166,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $3,757,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 228,775 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $123,950,000 after acquiring an additional 4,939 shares during the period. Finally, Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 41.5% in the second quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 28,616 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $15,504,000 after purchasing an additional 8,387 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.