Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Hits New 1-Year Low - What's Next?

Key Points

• Martin Marietta Materials shares hit a new 52-week low, trading as low as $486.83 and closing near $488.70, below both its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Despite the decline, analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $666.12, substantially above the current price. The company also exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations.
• Martin Marietta raised its quarterly dividend to $0.84 per share, while institutional investors own approximately 95% of the stock; BlackRock established a stake valued at roughly $2.7 billion.

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $486.83 and last traded at $488.7030, with a volume of 14720 shares. The stock had previously closed at $490.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MLM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Oppenheimer began coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $739.00 to $715.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 28th. Berenberg Bank set a $556.00 price target on Martin Marietta Materials and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $648.00 price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Tuesday, August 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $666.12.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Down 0.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $29.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $531.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $569.25. 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 (NYSE:MLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue for the quarter was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 18.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be issued a $0.84 dividend. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials's previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 1st. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Martin Marietta Materials's payout ratio is currently 8.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the second quarter valued at about $2,706,134,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,448,928 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,524,853,000 after acquiring an additional 836,120 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings 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 valued at $1,412,702,000 after acquiring an additional 21,310 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,553,364 shares of the construction company's stock worth $963,406,000 after acquiring an additional 10,743 shares during the period. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 690,128 shares of the construction company's stock worth $429,715,000 after acquiring an additional 5,025 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company's stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of construction aggregates and other building materials. The company produces crushed stone, sand and gravel used in infrastructure, commercial, residential and industrial construction projects.

Its products and services also include cement, ready-mixed concrete, asphalt and paving materials. Martin Marietta serves customers involved in roads, bridges, airports, buildings and other essential infrastructure, with operations concentrated across several regions of the United States.

The company was established in 1993 as an independent, publicly traded materials business formed from the construction materials operations of Martin Marietta Corporation.

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