Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) was upgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday. The brokerage presently has a $96.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Investment Research’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 11.76% from the stock’s current price.
According to Zacks, “Eagle Materials Inc. is a Dallas-based company that manufactures and distributes Cement, Gypsum Wallboard, Recycled Paperboard and Concrete and Aggregates. “
Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on EXP. TheStreet upgraded Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 15th. Standpoint Research assumed coverage on Eagle Materials in a research report on Monday, March 28th. They issued an “accumulate” rating and a $91.00 price target for the company. BB&T Corp. upgraded Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 28th. Sterne Agee CRT reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Monday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted their price target on Eagle Materials from $72.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 18th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Eagle Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $83.13.
Other large investors recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. LS Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 70.3% in the second quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 1,212 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in Eagle Materials during the second quarter worth $238,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 52.2% in the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 5,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 1,770 shares during the period. Oakbrook Investments LLC raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 8.9% in the second quarter. Oakbrook Investments LLC now owns 4,900 shares of the company’s stock worth $378,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 63.4% in the first quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 5,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $413,000 after buying an additional 2,287 shares during the period.
Shares of Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) traded down 0.02% during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $85.90. The stock had a trading volume of 659,332 shares. Eagle Materials has a 1-year low of $45.03 and a 1-year high of $87.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $79.40 and its 200 day moving average price is $69.12. The company has a market capitalization of $4.15 billion and a P/E ratio of 28.16.
Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its earnings results on Monday, July 25th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.07. The firm earned $297 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $295.49 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Eagle Materials will post $4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 20th were paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. This represents a $0.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, June 16th.
Eagle Materials Inc manufactures and distributes gypsum wallboard and also manufactures and sells cement. Gypsum wallboard is distributed throughout the United States, in the geographic markets nearest to its production facilities. The Company sells cement in six regional markets, including northern Nevada and California, the greater Chicago area, the Rocky Mountain region, the Central Plains region and Texas.
