Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $644.71

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus on Martin Marietta Materials, with 12 buy, seven hold, and one sell rating. The average 12-month price target is $644.71, although several analysts recently lowered their targets.
• MLM shares opened at $472.67, near their 52-week low of $470.19 and below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company nevertheless exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $5.00 in EPS and $1.95 billion in revenue, up 21% year over year.
• Martin Marietta raised its quarterly dividend to $0.84 per share, equivalent to a $3.36 annual dividend and a 0.7% yield. Institutional investors own approximately 95% of the company’s outstanding stock.

Shares of Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the twenty ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and twelve have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $644.71.

MLM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials to an "underweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 2nd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Stephens decreased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $664.00 to $639.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 13th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $715.00 to $662.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.9%

NYSE:MLM opened at $472.67 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $510.75 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $558.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.41. Martin Marietta Materials has a 1 year low of $470.19 and a 1 year high of $710.97.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.76 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.87 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 36.73%. Martin Marietta Materials's quarterly revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.84 per share. This is a positive change from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.26%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $220,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% during the third quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 22,831 shares of the construction company's stock worth $10,995,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. GK Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the third quarter worth $32,000. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 92.9% during the third quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,458 shares of the construction company's stock worth $702,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 27.7% during the third quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 55,793 shares of the construction company's stock worth $26,770,000 after purchasing an additional 12,089 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a producer and supplier of construction materials used in infrastructure, commercial, residential, and industrial projects. The company's principal products include crushed stone, sand, gravel, cement, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt, and related paving materials.

The company serves customers primarily across the United States, with operations concentrated in major markets experiencing demand for transportation infrastructure, building construction, and other development projects.

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