Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) Price Target Cut to $645.00 by Analysts at Loop Capital

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) had its price target cut by stock analysts at Loop Capital from $680.00 to $645.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the construction company’s stock. Loop Capital’s price target indicates a potential upside of 21.30% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on MLM. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $657.00 to $622.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. HSBC upgraded Martin Marietta Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $690.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wolfe Research raised Martin Marietta Materials from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $563.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Martin Marietta Materials from $645.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Martin Marietta Materials from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $515.00 to $640.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned 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, Martin Marietta Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $639.43.

Martin Marietta Materials Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MLM traded up $14.61 during trading on Thursday, hitting $531.75. 665,149 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 419,964. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $536.78 and its 200-day moving average price is $549.65. Martin Marietta Materials has a 12-month low of $482.72 and a 12-month high of $633.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.57, a PEG ratio of 4.62 and a beta of 0.91.

Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE:MLM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The construction company reported $4.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.62 by $0.17. Martin Marietta Materials had a net margin of 30.47% and a return on equity of 12.53%. On average, research analysts predict that Martin Marietta Materials will post 17.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MLM. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 54,277.3% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 918,432 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $474,370,000 after acquiring an additional 916,743 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Martin Marietta Materials by 76.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,628,701 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $876,648,000 after purchasing an additional 704,460 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $306,863,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Martin Marietta Materials by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,678,425 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,441,663,000 after buying an additional 506,705 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Martin Marietta Materials during the 4th quarter valued at $196,374,000. Hedge funds and other 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.