Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLMGet Free Report) was downgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on MLM. Barclays lifted their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $595.00 to $645.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $600.00 to $680.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Martin Marietta Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $653.08.

Read Our Latest Stock Report on Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM traded down $3.75 on Wednesday, reaching $516.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 267,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 443,312. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $573.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $553.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $31.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 3.74 and a beta of 0.89. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12-month low of $479.67 and a 12-month high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLMGet Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. The business had revenue of $1.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,441,663,000 after buying an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 15.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,515,441 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,353,936,000 after acquiring an additional 334,605 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $876,648,000 after acquiring an additional 704,460 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 623,681 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $337,903,000 after purchasing an additional 12,759 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 534,801 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $295,397,000 after purchasing an additional 9,908 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

About Martin Marietta Materials

(Get Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

Analyst Recommendations for Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM)

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