Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) Receives $610.27 Average PT from Brokerages

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $610.27.

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Martin Marietta Materials from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $600.00 target price (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $635.00 to $708.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a report on Thursday, February 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling at Martin Marietta Materials

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.26, for a total transaction of $9,063,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials 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 completion of 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 134,640 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $81,357,566.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.68% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $3,577,268,000 after acquiring an additional 69,701 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,042,537 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $838,421,000 after purchasing an additional 181,136 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 225.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,833,959 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $752,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270,116 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 114.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 980,699 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $602,092,000 after purchasing an additional 523,038 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $308,705,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM stock opened at $579.16 on Wednesday. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52 week low of $389.90 and a 52 week high of $626.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.41, a current ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $599.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $538.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $35.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.95.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The construction company reported $1.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.88 by $0.05. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 31.35% and a return on equity of 14.74%. The business had revenue of $1.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.31 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.16 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s quarterly revenue was down 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 21.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.74 per share. This represents a $2.96 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.77%.

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.