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

StockNews.com lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on MLM. UBS Group initiated 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 target on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $563.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Raymond James decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $640.00 to $630.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $648.71.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:MLM traded down $2.41 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $543.92. The stock had a trading volume of 390,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 320,028. The stock has a market cap of $33.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.95, a P/E/G ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12-month low of $490.05 and a 12-month high of $633.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $546.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $550.93.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). The firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The firm's revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.94 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.57 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.85%.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company's stock worth $876,648,000 after purchasing an additional 704,460 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,441,663,000 after buying an additional 506,705 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,353,936,000 after buying an additional 334,605 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 7,608.2% during the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 181,373 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $97,624,000 after acquiring an additional 179,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 54.2% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 467,782 shares of the construction company's stock worth $251,784,000 after acquiring an additional 164,503 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.