Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

MLM has been the topic of several other reports. BNP Paribas cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, UBS Group started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $653.08.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE MLM opened at $516.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. The stock has a market cap of $31.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $570.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $552.38. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $482.01 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a $0.79 dividend. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 9.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares in the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares in the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $33,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

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.