Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $629.82.

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $630.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $615.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MLM. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,170,166 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,577,268,000 after acquiring an additional 69,701 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 114.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 980,699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $602,092,000 after purchasing an additional 523,038 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,681 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $337,903,000 after purchasing an additional 12,759 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 465,703 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $252,318,000 after purchasing an additional 11,749 shares during the period. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position 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 buying an additional 3,598 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE MLM opened at $539.11 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $538.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $565.00. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52-week low of $389.90 and a 52-week high of $626.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $33.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.78 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.86 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 3rd. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.74. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 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.