Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Wall Street Zen

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

MLM has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $530.00 to $520.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $634.00 to $629.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $720.00 to $670.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $610.00 to $641.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Fifteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $642.60.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

Martin Marietta Materials stock opened at $517.36 on Friday. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12 month low of $464.92 and a 12 month high of $710.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.63 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $503.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $573.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $36.79 billion, a PE ratio of 13.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.02.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $5.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $5.99 by ($0.52). Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 7.96% and a net margin of 31.88%. The company had revenue of $2.37 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.85 earnings per share. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 16.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,706,134,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,411,047,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 546,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $321,442,000 after purchasing an additional 5,764 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc grew its holdings in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 1,735.1% during the third quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 448,545 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $215,216,000 after buying an additional 424,103 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 13.6% in the second quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 386,046 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $222,633,000 after buying an additional 46,228 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

About Martin Marietta Materials

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc is a U.S.-based supplier of building materials used in construction and infrastructure projects. Its products include crushed stone, sand and gravel, cement, ready-mixed concrete and asphalt.

The company also produces specialty products through its magnesia-based business, including lime, chemicals and products used in industrial and environmental applications. Its construction materials operations serve markets across the United States.

Martin Marietta traces its roots to 1939 and has grown through acquisitions and expansion of its materials operations.