Brokerages Set Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) PT at $644.46

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) have received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $644.46.

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MLM shares. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $657.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $1.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $581.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 397,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 398,543. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $575.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $556.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $458.58 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a market capitalization of $35.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.54%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.8% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 664 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% in the third quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,144,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company's stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. TFG Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.7% in the second quarter. TFG Advisers LLC now owns 555 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $300,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 680 shares of the construction company's stock worth $368,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

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.