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

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on MLM. BNP Paribas downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group started coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $730.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $653.08.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE MLM opened at $510.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.20 billion, a PE ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $572.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $552.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12 month low of $479.67 and a 12 month high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced 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 company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The business’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,441,663,000 after acquiring an additional 506,705 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 534,801 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $295,397,000 after purchasing an additional 9,908 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 8.0% in the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 10,021 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,394,000 after purchasing an additional 741 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 89.3% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 8,008 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $4,310,000 after purchasing an additional 3,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $197,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently 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.