Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Stock Gets Price Target Cut from UBS Group

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) had its price target trimmed by UBS Group from $662.00 to $640.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. HSBC dropped their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $750.00 to $665.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $530.00 to $520.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $629.00 to $653.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $579.00 to $589.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.75.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded down $4.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $513.02. The company had a trading volume of 491,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 964,771. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $464.92 and a fifty-two week high of $710.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $503.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $570.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $36.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.02.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $5.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.99 by ($0.52). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 7.96% and a net margin of 31.88%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.85 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 15.30 EPS for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 31st. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a $0.84 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st. This represents a $3.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is presently 8.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 67.9% in the 1st quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 47 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 19 shares during the period. CoreCap Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 370.0% during the second quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 47 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 37 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,633.3% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 52 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,900.0% during the third quarter. WestEnd Advisors LLC now owns 60 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EFG International AG acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the second quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. is a U.S.-based supplier of building materials used in construction and infrastructure projects. Its products include crushed stone, sand and gravel, cement, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt. The company also produces specialty products through its magnesia-based business, including lime, chemicals and products used in industrial and environmental applications. Its construction materials operations serve markets across the United States. Martin Marietta traces its roots to 1939 and has grown through acquisitions and expansion of its materials operations.