Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $680.00 price target on the construction company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $616.00 to $581.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Stephens decreased their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $700.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials to an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $737.00 to $690.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $665.88.

Martin Marietta Materials Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:MLM opened at $516.12 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $552.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $585.34. Martin Marietta Materials has a 1 year low of $502.56 and a 1 year high of $710.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $31.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.10.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The construction company reported $5.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.76 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $1.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.87 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 9.49% and a net margin of 36.73%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.43 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 30th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a $0.84 dividend. This is a boost from Martin Marietta Materials’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.83. This represents a $3.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.26%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MLM. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 110,486 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $63,718,000 after purchasing an additional 5,947 shares in the last quarter. Brown Financial Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brown Financial Advisors now owns 2,383 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,374,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 72,704.3% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 51,073,705 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,454,206,000 after purchasing an additional 51,003,553 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in Martin Marietta Materials by 42.3% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 643 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 191 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 7.1% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 756 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $437,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

Martin Marietta Materials Company Profile

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc (NYSE: MLM) is a leading producer of aggregates and heavy building materials serving the construction and infrastructure markets. The company operates quarries, sand and gravel pits, and other extraction sites to supply crushed stone, sand and gravel, and a range of value?added products for use in roads, bridges, commercial and residential construction, and other civil engineering projects.

In addition to its core aggregates business, Martin Marietta manufactures and sells asphalt, ready?mixed concrete and related materials and services.