Stifel Nicolaus Boosts Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Price Target to $650.00

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) had its price objective lifted by Stifel Nicolaus from $621.00 to $650.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on MLM. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $560.00 to $642.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research note on Friday, March 8th. HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a reduce rating to a hold rating and lifted their target price for the company from $376.00 to $543.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an overweight rating and a $595.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:MLM opened at $592.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $36.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.96. Martin Marietta Materials has a one year low of $343.79 and a one year high of $626.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $583.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $507.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.35.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.67. The business had revenue of $1.61 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.62 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 17.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.04 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 21.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s payout ratio is 15.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total transaction of $936,959.52. Following the sale, the director now owns 19,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,757,099.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total value of $6,032,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,724 shares of company stock valued at $16,033,760 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.59% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 144.4% during the 3rd quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 66 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

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.