Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Rating Increased to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Thursday.

MLM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $730.00 price target on the stock. BNP Paribas cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research raised Martin Marietta Materials from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $563.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $690.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $643.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE MLM traded up $8.66 on Thursday, reaching $517.31. The company had a trading volume of 377,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 394,174. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $566.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $551.64. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12 month low of $488.30 and a 12 month high of $633.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.62 billion, a PE ratio of 16.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 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 (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 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 firm had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.94 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 2nd were given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.85%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inspire Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 2,126 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 782 shares of the construction company's stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its position in 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 valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. iA Global Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 570 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Counselors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 1,123 shares of the construction company's stock worth $604,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Martin Marietta Materials

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.