Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $304.89.

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EXP opened at $249.43 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $289.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $265.02. The company has a market cap of $8.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.62 and a beta of 1.33. Eagle Materials has a 12-month low of $195.93 and a 12-month high of $321.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is currently 7.06%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael Haack sold 11,888 shares of Eagle Materials 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 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 3,577 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.30, for a total value of $1,074,173.10. Following 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. Insiders have sold a total of 16,866 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,311 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Materials

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 36.6% during the 2nd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 5,765 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,254,000 after purchasing an additional 1,545 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Eagle Materials by 10,750.0% during the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 217 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 215 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. raised its holdings in Eagle Materials by 15.7% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 66,236 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $14,403,000 after acquiring an additional 8,977 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 34,059 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,406,000 after acquiring an additional 4,314 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $551,000. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.