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

Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $304.89.

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

Eagle Materials Price Performance

EXP opened at $246.48 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $289.03 and a 200 day moving average price of $265.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Eagle Materials has a 1 year low of $195.93 and a 1 year high of $321.93. The stock has a market cap 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 quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $4.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.75 by ($0.44). The firm had revenue of $623.62 million for 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.28 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 15.24 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is currently 7.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

In other news, CEO Michael Haack sold 11,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.50, for a total transaction of $3,691,224.00. Following the sale, 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 the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,568. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 16,866 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,311 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 36.6% during the second 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. boosted its stake in Eagle Materials by 10,750.0% in the 2nd quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 217 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 15.7% during the second 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 during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $7,406,000 after purchasing an additional 4,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Banco Santander S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the 2nd quarter worth about $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.