Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Saturday morning.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $242.00 price target on Eagle Materials and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 21st. Stephens set a $255.00 target price on Eagle Materials and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Loop Capital raised their target price on Eagle Materials from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Eagle Materials from $279.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on Eagle Materials from $260.00 to $245.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $255.33.

Eagle Materials Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE EXP opened at $223.15 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.43 and a beta of 1.24. Eagle Materials has a 12-month low of $191.91 and a 12-month high of $321.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $209.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.33.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $634.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.52 million. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 31.21% and a net margin of 19.81%. Equities research analysts expect that Eagle Materials will post 14.39 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.36%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Materials

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 18.8% during the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,140,621 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $475,068,000 after purchasing an additional 339,089 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 42.5% in the 1st quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 909,633 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $201,875,000 after acquiring an additional 271,410 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 734,541 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $153,607,000 after acquiring an additional 28,559 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 722,995 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $178,450,000 after acquiring an additional 15,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 611,745 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $123,640,000 after acquiring an additional 222,537 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eagle Materials Company Profile

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.