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

Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $289.78.

A number of research analysts recently commented on EXP shares. Stephens increased their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eagle Materials news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.76, for a total transaction of $1,333,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,135,778.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.76, for a total value of $1,333,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 60,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,135,778.88. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric Cribbs sold 1,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.06, for a total transaction of $512,838.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,861,385.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 7,851 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,258. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXP. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 95 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 132.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 114 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EXP opened at $292.11 on Friday. Eagle Materials has a 52 week low of $145.03 and a 52 week high of $292.74. The company’s 50 day moving average is $249.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $246.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $9.89 billion, a PE ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 1.32.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.37. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 21.65% and a return on equity of 37.10%. The company had revenue of $608.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $622.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Eagle Materials will post 15.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

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.