ROAD - Vulcan Materials Martin Marietta raised at Ray Jay on infrastructure boost

Vulcan Materials ( NYSE: VMC ) and Martin Marietta ( NYSE: MLM ) are downgraded on Friday at Raymond James to Outperform from Market Perform, with respective $197 and $410 price targets, as part of a reallocation in the firm's coverage of the heavy construction materials segment.

"A number of recent headwinds could flip to tailwinds into 2023 and beyond - possibly ahead of what the market appreciates," Ray Jay's Patrick Tyler Brown wrote in support of the upgrades.

"To this point, after the highest inflation in 40 years and a surge in aggregates pricing, the jumping off point for aggregates pricing into 2023 already supports further Y/Y price gains even before contemplating any additional pricing actions the market may afford," the analyst wrote.

Last year's passage of the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act by Congress "could provide a once-in-a-generation type infusion for infrastructure projects in coming years," and said growth could build in the coming years "given the lagged nature of non-resi construction and improved federal and state funded public project work," according to Brown.

Ray Jay also assumed coverage of Construction Partner ( ROAD ) at Strong Buy with a $35 PT and Eagle Materials ( NYSE: EXP ) at Outperform with a $145 PT.

Long-term tailwinds such as constrained domestic cement supply, infrastructure spending and pent-up housing demand should benefit Eagle Materials ( EXP ) going forward, Herman Schroeder write in a bullish analysis published on Seeking Alpha .

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