Raleigh, North Carolina-based Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (MLM), a natural resource-based building materials company, supplies aggregates and heavy-side building materials to the construction industry. With a market cap of $33.3 billion, the company also manufactures and markets magnesia-based products, including heat-resistant refractory products for the steel industry, chemical products for industrial and environmental uses, and dolomitic lime.
Companies worth $10 billion or more are generally described as “large-cap stocks,” and MLM perfectly fits that description, with its market cap exceeding this mark, underscoring its size, influence, and dominance within the building materials industry. MLM cements its aggregates industry leadership through a robust presence in strategic markets. Its diversified portfolio, featuring cement and magnesia specialties, buffers against market fluctuations.
Despite its notable strength, MLM slipped 15.4% from its 52-week high of $633.23, achieved on Nov. 6. Over the past three months, MLM stock has gained marginally, underperforming the Dow Jones Industrials Average’s ($DOWI)2% gains during the same time frame.
In the longer term, shares of MLM rose 7.4% on a YTD basis and climbed 9.2% over the past 52 weeks, underperforming DOWI’s YTD gains of 12.3% and solid 13.5% returns over the last year.
To confirm the bearish trend, MLM has been trading below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages recently.
Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, were a major factor affecting the MLM's performance due to disruptions in product shipments and the company's geographic distribution.
On Oct. 30, MLM shares closed up more than 3% after reporting its Q3 results. Its EPS of $5.91 missed Wall Street expectations of $6.41. The company’s revenue was $1.89 billion, falling short of Wall Street forecasts of $1.92 billion. MLM expects full-year revenue to be between $6.5 billion and $6.7 billion.
In the competitive arena of building materials, Vulcan Materials Company (VMC) has taken the lead over MLM, showing resilience with a 16.7% uptick on a YTD basis and 18.9% gains over the past 52 weeks.
Wall Street analysts are bullish on MLM’s prospects. The stock has a consensus “Strong Buy” rating from the 17 analysts covering it, and the mean price target of $665.91 suggests a potential upside of 24.3% from current price levels.
