The Goldman Sachs Group Raises Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Price Target to $737.00

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) had its target price hoisted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $642.00 to $737.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an overweight rating and a $595.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a neutral rating and issued a $600.00 price target (up previously from $530.00) on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Raymond James lifted their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $505.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, January 25th. HSBC raised Martin Marietta Materials from a reduce rating to a hold rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $376.00 to $543.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Martin Marietta Materials from $621.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $588.69.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

NYSE:MLM opened at $587.13 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $586.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $508.75. The firm has a market cap of $36.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.18, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.96. Martin Marietta Materials has a 52-week low of $343.79 and a 52-week high of $626.67. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The construction company reported $4.63 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.96 by $0.67. The firm had revenue of $1.61 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.62 billion. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 17.25%. Martin Marietta Materials’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.04 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 21.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.74 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $2.96 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 15.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO C Howard Nye sold 15,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 134,640 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,357,566.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Roselyn R. Bar sold 10,000 shares of Martin Marietta Materials stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 59,970 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,179,301.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,724 shares of company stock worth $16,033,760 in the last three months. 0.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Martin Marietta Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the 1st quarter worth approximately $26,000. MV Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. 95.04% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.