Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Stock Rated “Moderate Buy” by Wall Street Brokerages

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $666.12.

Several research analysts have issued reports on MLM shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials to an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Raymond James Financial set a $660.00 target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 price target on Martin Marietta Materials and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $739.00 to $715.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 3rd.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $483.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 1.10. Martin Marietta Materials has a twelve month low of $477.38 and a twelve month high of $710.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $528.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $567.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.24. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 36.73% and a return on equity of 9.49%. The business had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.77 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.84 per share. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 8.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MLM. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 10.9% during the 2nd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,432 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,979,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at about $71,249,000. Blue Edge Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at about $452,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 19.0% during the second quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,292 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,089,000 after acquiring an additional 1,966 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 6.4% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 95,221 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $54,914,000 after acquiring an additional 5,739 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of construction aggregates and other building materials. The company produces crushed stone, sand and gravel used in infrastructure, commercial, residential and industrial construction projects.

Its products and services also include cement, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and paving materials. Martin Marietta serves customers involved in roads, bridges, airports, buildings and other essential infrastructure, with operations concentrated across several regions of the United States.

The company was established in 1993 as an independent, publicly traded materials business formed from the construction materials operations of Martin Marietta Corporation.