Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) has earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the ten brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $296.80.

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EXP shares. Citigroup cut shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, November 25th.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

Shares of EXP stock opened at $254.99 on Wednesday. Eagle Materials has a 52-week low of $211.44 and a 52-week high of $321.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The stock has a market cap of $8.49 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21 and a beta of 1.37. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $257.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $271.31.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by ($0.38). Eagle Materials had a net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 34.14%. On average, equities analysts expect that Eagle Materials will post 14.39 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Michael Haack sold 11,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.50, for a total transaction of $3,691,224.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,644,315.50. The trade was a 12.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 3,577 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.30, for a total transaction of $1,074,173.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $330,330. The trade was a 76.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,801,257 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,093,432,000 after buying an additional 878,400 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Eagle Materials by 60.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,133 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $499,111,000 after acquiring an additional 652,836 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its position in Eagle Materials by 46.2% in the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 500,273 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $143,904,000 after purchasing an additional 158,171 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Eagle Materials in the fourth quarter valued at $38,115,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the 3rd quarter worth $34,846,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.