Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the seventeen research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, twelve have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $603.86.

A number of brokerages recently commented on MLM. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $559.00 to $609.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $597.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $561.00 to $576.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 31st. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $615.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, IMA Advisory Services Inc. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 2.2%

MLM opened at $565.01 on Monday. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $441.95 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 2.25. The company has a market capitalization of $34.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.55, a P/E/G ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $552.73 and a 200-day moving average of $522.21.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.02. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.01% and a net margin of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.93 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 2nd. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.20%.

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.

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