Stifel Nicolaus Begins Coverage on Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM)

Equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) in a note issued to investors on Tuesday. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $559.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target indicates a potential upside of 23.27% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Martin Marietta Materials in a report on Thursday, November 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $730.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on Martin Marietta Materials from $675.00 to $650.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.36.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Performance

NYSE MLM traded down $16.31 on Tuesday, hitting $453.49. The stock had a trading volume of 54,192 shares, compared to its average volume of 446,379. The company’s 50-day moving average is $523.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $545.14. The stock has a market cap of $27.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.05, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. Martin Marietta Materials has a one year low of $453.41 and a one year high of $633.23.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a return on equity of 12.11% and a net margin of 30.54%. On average, analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Hopwood Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.04% of the company’s stock.

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.