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

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $304.89.

EXP has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Eagle Materials from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Loop Capital lowered 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.

Eagle Materials Trading Down 1.2 %

EXP stock opened at $246.48 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $289.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.14. Eagle Materials has a fifty-two week low of $195.93 and a fifty-two week high of $321.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.41 and a beta of 1.33.

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

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.06%.

Insider Transactions at Eagle Materials

In related news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 1,401 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $4,148,568. This represents a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 owns 85,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,644,315.50. This represents a 12.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 16,866 shares of company stock worth $5,205,311. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 78.1% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,948 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $10,915,000 after acquiring an additional 16,645 shares in the last quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Eagle Materials by 400.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ausbil Investment Management Ltd now owns 12,978 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,733,000 after purchasing an additional 10,384 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 46.2% in the 3rd 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. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the third quarter valued at about $920,000. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 11.8% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 27,265 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $7,843,000 after buying an additional 2,871 shares during the period. 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.