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

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

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their target price for the company from $548.00 to $634.00 in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $640.00 to $560.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their target price on shares of 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.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of MLM traded up $9.68 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $550.34. The stock had a trading volume of 448,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 484,721. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52-week low of $441.95 and a 52-week high of $633.23. The business's fifty day moving average is $540.97 and its 200 day moving average is $519.38. The firm has a market cap of $33.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.70, a P/E/G ratio of 4.99 and a beta of 0.89.

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

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Monday, June 2nd will be issued a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.57%. Martin Marietta Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.20%.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $235,000. Waverly Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 78.9% in the fourth quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 1,041 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $538,000 after acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.0% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 454 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 64.6% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,028 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 796 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 5.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 7,357 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,518,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company's stock.

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.