Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM – Get Rating) in a research report released on Thursday morning. The firm issued a hold rating on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on MLM. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $380.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 16th. Seaport Res Ptn reissued a neutral rating on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $400.00 to $405.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Monday, December 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $410.00 to $395.00 in a report on Thursday, December 8th. Finally, Atlantic Securities downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an overweight rating to a neutral rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $375.00 to $350.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $404.50.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM traded down $10.62 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $320.60. 579,156 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 354,957. The business’s 50 day moving average is $354.03 and its 200-day moving average is $344.86. Martin Marietta Materials has a 1 year low of $284.99 and a 1 year high of $406.85. The company has a market capitalization of $19.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.99.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 15th. The construction company reported $3.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.03 by $0.01. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 14.07% and a return on equity of 11.03%. The firm had revenue of $1.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.53 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.15 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 14.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 6th will be given a dividend of $0.66 per share. This represents a $2.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 19.02%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MLM. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 107.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,262,083 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $764,516,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,464 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $197,591,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 25.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,483,093 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $743,040,000 after acquiring an additional 504,794 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,436,140 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $509,753,000 after acquiring an additional 287,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 217.5% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 414,585 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $124,060,000 after acquiring an additional 283,994 shares during the last quarter. 93.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

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Martin Marietta Materials, Inc engages in the provision of aggregates including crushed stone, sand, and gravel through its network of quarries and distribution yards. It operates through the following geographical segments: East Group and West Group. The East Group segments provide aggregated products only.