StockNews.com Lowers Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) to Hold

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) was downgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Thursday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on MLM. Wolfe Research downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 8th. Stephens upped 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $600.00 price objective (up from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $642.00 to $737.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $598.17.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

Shares of MLM opened at $596.64 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 3.16 and a quick ratio of 2.41. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12-month low of $389.90 and a 12-month high of $626.67. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $600.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $526.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.78 billion, a PE ratio of 17.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.95.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.16 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Martin Marietta Materials will post 21.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 14th. The shares were 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $603.29, for a total transaction of $6,032,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 59,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,179,301.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Sue W. Cole sold 1,724 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 19,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,757,099.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760. Corporate insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MLM. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 144.4% in the 3rd quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 66 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.