Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from Royal Bank Of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada cut its price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $530 to $520 and maintained a “sector perform” rating; the new target implies just 0.3% upside from the share price cited in the report.
• Shares fell 1.8% Friday to $518.42. The company’s latest quarterly EPS of $5.47 missed analysts’ $5.99 estimate, while revenue of $2.37 billion exceeded expectations and rose 28.3% year over year.
• Analyst views remain broadly positive: MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $641.05, with 15 Buy, seven Hold, and two Sell ratings.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $530.00 to $520.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "sector perform" rating on the construction company's stock. Royal Bank Of Canada's price objective suggests a potential upside of 0.30% from the company's current price.

MLM has been the topic of several other reports. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $634.00 to $629.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $680.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $579.00 to $589.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research set a $648.00 target price on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane dropped their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $590.00 to $565.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $641.05.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 1.8%

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $9.41 on Friday, hitting $518.42. The company had a trading volume of 348,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 626,524. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $503.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $573.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Martin Marietta Materials has a 1 year low of $464.92 and a 1 year high of $710.97.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $5.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.99 by ($0.52). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 31.88% and a return on equity of 7.96%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.85 EPS. Martin Marietta Materials's quarterly revenue was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 16.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at $2,706,134,000. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,399,779 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,412,702,000 after buying an additional 21,310 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 546,170 shares of the construction company's stock worth $321,442,000 after buying an additional 5,764 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 386,046 shares of the construction company's stock worth $222,633,000 after buying an additional 46,228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter valued at about $199,321,000. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a supplier of construction materials serving the infrastructure, commercial, residential and industrial markets. The company's primary business is aggregates, including crushed stone, sand and gravel used in roads, bridges, buildings and other construction projects.

Martin Marietta also produces cement, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt products, and provides paving and related construction services in selected markets. Through its Magnesia Specialties business, the company manufactures magnesium-based and dolomitic lime products used in industrial, environmental and agricultural applications.

Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, Martin Marietta Materials became an independent publicly traded company in 1993 following a spin-off from Martin Marietta Corporation.

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