Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) have earned an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, one has assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $226.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on EXP. Citigroup upped their price objective on Eagle Materials from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Eagle Materials from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Eagle Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Stephens dropped their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EXP opened at $213.34 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $213.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.01. Eagle Materials has a 1-year low of $171.99 and a 1-year high of $245.53. The firm has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a PE ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The construction company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.32. The firm had revenue of $479.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $451.99 million. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 28.27% and a net margin of 18.36%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. Research analysts predict that Eagle Materials will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.62%.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EXP. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in Eagle Materials by 266.7% during the fourth quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 132 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its holdings in Eagle Materials by 389.3% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new stake in Eagle Materials in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Eagle Materials by 102.4% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.