Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Hits New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $486.83 and last traded at $488.7030, with a volume of 14720 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $490.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MLM shares. Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Martin Marietta Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $666.12.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $29.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $531.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $569.25.

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 company had revenue of $1.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.43 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 18.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,706,134,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,524,853,000 after buying an additional 836,120 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,399,779 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,412,702,000 after acquiring an additional 21,310 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,553,364 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $963,406,000 after acquiring an additional 10,743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 690,128 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $429,715,000 after acquiring an additional 5,025 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

About Martin Marietta Materials

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.