Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Upgraded to “Buy” by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $700.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stephens increased their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $575.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Friday, February 16th. Wolfe Research cut shares of 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 upped their price objective for the company from $376.00 to $543.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a neutral rating and set a $600.00 target price (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 0.2 %

MLM stock opened at $591.03 on Wednesday. Martin Marietta Materials has a twelve month low of $384.61 and a twelve month high of $626.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market cap of $36.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $598.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $522.18.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.88 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.31 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 14.74% and a net margin of 31.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.16 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 21.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 4th were paid a $0.74 dividend. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.77%.

Insider Transactions at Martin Marietta Materials

In related news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total value of $936,959.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,757,099.64. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $543.48, for a total value of $936,959.52. Following the completion of 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. Insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,170,166 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,577,268,000 after purchasing an additional 69,701 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,042,537 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $838,421,000 after buying an additional 181,136 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 225.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,833,959 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $752,803,000 after buying an additional 1,270,116 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $308,705,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 3.8% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 615,467 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $252,637,000 after acquiring an additional 22,391 shares during 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.