Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Upgraded at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Wolfe Research currently has $563.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $701.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $643.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.7 %

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $508.54 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 2.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $563.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $551.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.08 billion, a PE ratio of 15.85, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.91. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52 week low of $489.90 and a 52 week high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors 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 yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is currently 9.85%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 411.1% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 46 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Asset Dedication LLC lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 1,300.0% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 56 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $33,000. Larson Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth approximately $49,000. Finally, Tobam lifted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 38.8% during the third quarter. Tobam now owns 93 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.