Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Now Covered by UBS Group

UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) in a research note released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $730.00 price target on the construction company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $670.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Stephens dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $650.00 to $635.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Martin Marietta Materials from $658.00 to $646.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.85.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

MLM opened at $619.58 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $549.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $556.56. Martin Marietta Materials has a fifty-two week low of $448.73 and a fifty-two week high of $633.23. The firm has a market cap of $37.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.12 and a beta of 0.90.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The construction company reported $5.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $6.41 by ($0.50). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.53% and a net margin of 30.47%. The company had revenue of $1.89 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 31st. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 2nd. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.85%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the first quarter worth approximately $209,000. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 1,227 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $754,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 4,271 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,619,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Empirical Finance LLC increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 3.4% in the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 2,257 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,386,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 25.5% during the first quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,637 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,461,000 after acquiring an additional 1,147 shares in the last quarter. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.