Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) have earned an average recommendation of "Hold" from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $292.40.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EXP. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Loop Capital lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $315.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a "hold" rating and a $242.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 30th.

Insider Transactions at Eagle Materials

In other news, Director Michael R. Nicolais acquired 310 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $257.36 per share, with a total value of $79,781.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $940,650.80. This represents a 9.27 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Private Trust Co. NA grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 53.0% during the fourth quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 205 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Huntington National Bank grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 154.8% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 237 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 233.1% during the fourth quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC now owns 443 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company's stock.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

EXP stock traded down $6.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $213.84. 690,434 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 351,646. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Eagle Materials has a 52 week low of $205.44 and a 52 week high of $321.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of $244.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $268.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a PE ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 1.37.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) last released 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Eagle Materials will post 14.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials's payout ratio is 7.14%.

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.