Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s What Happened

Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $444.91 and last traded at $458.78, with a volume of 230920 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $470.70.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MLM shares. HSBC raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Martin Marietta Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $609.43.

Martin Marietta Materials Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 2.50 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The company has a market cap of $29.43 billion, a PE ratio of 14.93, a P/E/G ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $495.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $535.32.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. will post 19.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Martin Marietta Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Martin Marietta Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.77%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Martin Marietta Materials news, SVP Michael J. Petro acquired 550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $454.37 per share, for a total transaction of $249,903.50. Following the acquisition, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,985 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,082,514.45. This trade represents a 6.52 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Donald A. Mccunniff sold 1,332 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $475.00, for a total value of $632,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,673,425. The trade was a 27.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Martin Marietta Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Whipplewood Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 91.9% during the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 71 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.