Short Interest in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Declines By 10.7%

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a drop of 10.7% from the October 15th total of 1,210,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 275,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 3.3% of the company's shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Eagle Materials

In related news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 1,401 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.00, for a total value of $439,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,212 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,148,568. This trade represents a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director George John Damiris sold 1,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.62, for a total value of $277,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,205,135.66. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EXP. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Eagle Materials by 132.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 114 shares of the construction company's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eagle Materials in the first quarter worth approximately $42,000. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Eagle Materials by 10,750.0% in the second quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 217 shares of the construction company's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in Eagle Materials by 1,760.0% in the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 186 shares of the construction company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Eagle Materials in the third quarter worth approximately $64,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company's stock.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EXP traded down $4.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $301.28. 230,388 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 284,065. Eagle Materials has a 12-month low of $172.20 and a 12-month high of $317.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market cap of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28 and a beta of 1.32. The business's fifty day moving average price is $288.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.26.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts' expectations of $651.46 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.28 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 15.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Eagle Materials's payout ratio is 7.06%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup lifted their target price on Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens lifted their target price on Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Eagle Materials from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $303.78.

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.

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