Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Rating Lowered to Neutral at Citigroup

Citigroup cut shares of Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $280.00 price target on the construction company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $334.00.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital cut shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on Eagle Materials from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $301.44.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Eagle Materials stock opened at $243.94 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $283.76 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.08. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials has a 12-month low of $197.58 and a 12-month high of $321.93.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $4.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.75 by ($0.44). Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 35.79% and a net margin of 21.32%. The business had revenue of $623.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $651.46 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.28 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials will post 15.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.06%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 1,401 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.00, for a total value of $439,914.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,148,568. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Haack sold 11,888 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.50, for a total value of $3,691,224.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,811 shares in the company, valued at $26,644,315.50. The trade was a 12.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,866 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,311 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 20.6% in the 4th quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 760 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $188,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Eagle Materials by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 60.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,133 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,111,000 after acquiring an additional 652,836 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 198,994 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $57,241,000 after acquiring an additional 27,397 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 162,863 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $48,435,000 after purchasing an additional 10,459 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

About Eagle Materials

Eagle Materials Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells heavy construction materials and light building materials in the United States. It operates in four segments: Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, Gypsum Wallboard, and Recycled Paperboard. The company engages in the mining of limestone for the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of Portland cement, including Portland limestone cement; grinding and sale of slag; and mining of gypsum for the manufacture and sale of gypsum wallboards used to finish the interior walls and ceilings in residential, commercial, and industrial structures, as well as well as containerboard and lightweight packaging grades; manufacture and sale of recycled paperboard to the gypsum wallboard industry and other paperboard converters; the sale of readymix concrete; and mining and sale of aggregates, such as crushed stone, sand, and gravel.