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

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $257.00.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital raised shares of Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $170.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. StockNews.com lowered Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $170.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Eagle Materials from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Eagle Materials from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday.

Eagle Materials Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of EXP opened at $244.62 on Thursday. Eagle Materials has a fifty-two week low of $143.23 and a fifty-two week high of $272.72. The company has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a PE ratio of 17.26 and a beta of 1.34. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $255.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $210.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.61.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The construction company reported $3.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.16. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 40.05% and a net margin of 22.24%. The firm had revenue of $558.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $537.23 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Eric Cribbs sold 2,000 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.66, for a total transaction of $429,320.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,360,287.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Eagle Materials news, insider Eric Cribbs sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.66, for a total transaction of $429,320.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 15,654 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,360,287.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tony Thompson sold 638 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.07, for a total value of $149,974.66. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 14,393 shares in the company, valued at $3,383,362.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 19,444 shares of company stock worth $4,414,889. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 41.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,510,906 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $418,116,000 after purchasing an additional 730,454 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 261.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 871,970 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $176,870,000 after buying an additional 630,964 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 271.7% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 666,874 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $111,048,000 after buying an additional 487,454 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $60,428,000. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 133.0% in the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 662,628 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $134,407,000 after acquiring an additional 378,296 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is 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; 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.