Martin Marietta Materials (NYSE: MLM) met its estimates last quarter, but investors hope that it will beat them this quarter. The company will unveil its latest earnings Tuesday. Martin Marietta Materials is a producer of aggregates for the construction industry, including infrastructure, commercial, agricultural, and residential products.

What analysts say:

  • Buy, sell, or hold?: Analysts think investors should stand pat on Martin Marietta Materials, with 10 of 14 analysts rating it hold. Analysts like Martin Marietta Materials better than competitor Vulcan Materials overall. Two out of 14 analysts rate Vulcan Materials a buy compared with four of 14 for Martin Marietta Materials. While analysts still rate the stock a hold, they are a little more optimistic about it compared to three months ago.
  • Revenue Forecasts: On average, analysts predict $438 million in revenue this quarter. That would represent a rise of 2.3% from the year-ago quarter.
  • Wall Street Earnings Expectations: The average analyst estimate is earnings of $0.39 per share. Estimates range from $0.29 to $0.53.

What our community says:
CAPS All-Stars are in strong support of the stock, with 94.5% assigning it an "outperform" rating. The community at large backs the All-Stars, with 87.8% giving it a rating of "outperform." Fools have embraced Martin Marietta Materials, though the message boards have been quiet lately with only 70 posts in the past 30 days. Despite the majority sentiment in favor of Martin Marietta Materials, the stock has a middling CAPS rating of three out of five stars.

Management:
Over the last four quarters, revenue has increased 5.4% on average year-over-year.

Now, a look at how efficient management has been at running the business. Margins illustrate how efficiently a company captures portions of sales dollars. The company's net margins have slipped in the last two quarters year-over-year. Net margins reflect what percentage of revenue becomes profit. Here is how Martin Marietta Materials has been doing for the last four quarters:

Quarter

Q3

Q2

Q1

Q4

Gross Margin

20.8%

19.6%

5.9%

16.6%

Operating Margin

14.8%

12.8%

-1.7%

8.1%

Net Margin

9.2%

7.3%

-4.9%

3.5%

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Earnings estimates provided by Zacks.