Citigroup Cuts Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Price Target to $232.00

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) had its price objective decreased by Citigroup from $240.00 to $232.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the construction company’s stock.

EXP has been the subject of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Zacks Research cut shares of Eagle Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $240.00 to $231.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $208.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.56.

Eagle Materials Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of EXP opened at $210.22 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $214.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $209.63. Eagle Materials has a one year low of $171.99 and a one year high of $245.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 3.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.62 and a beta of 1.38.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $3.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by ($0.08). Eagle Materials had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 26.87%. The firm had revenue of $650.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $620.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.76 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 14th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eagle Materials

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $688,486,000. W1M Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $155,199,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $129,760,000. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Eagle Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,778,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Eagle Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,147,000. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Eagle Materials

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) is a Dallas, Texas–based manufacturer of building materials serving construction and heavy industry markets across the United States. The company’s primary products include portland and masonry cements, gypsum wallboard, lightweight aggregate, paperboard packaging, and roofing granules. These product lines support a wide range of end uses—from residential and commercial buildings to infrastructure projects and industrial applications.

Since its spin-off from a major homebuilding company in 2004, Eagle Materials has grown through targeted facility expansions and strategic acquisitions.