Short Interest in Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) Rises By 21.5%

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 27th, there was short interest totaling 1,815,395 shares, a growth of 21.5% from the February 12th total of 1,494,481 shares. Currently, 5.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 515,780 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 515,780 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Currently, 5.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on Eagle Materials in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price (down from $230.00) on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Monday, February 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.36.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EXP opened at $188.52 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 4.27 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Eagle Materials has a 1-year low of $184.08 and a 1-year high of $243.64. The company has a market capitalization of $5.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.35. The business has a 50-day moving average of $219.61 and a 200-day moving average of $221.77.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.22 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.32 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $555.96 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $556.41 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 28.96%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.59 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials will post 14.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 16th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Materials

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 23.2% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,147 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 36.3% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,821 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $2,317,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 2,127.3% in the fourth quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,225 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aristides Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Aristides Capital LLC now owns 5,821 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

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.