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

Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP – Get Rating) have been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $151.13.

EXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 20th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $135.00 to $145.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $130.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 27th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 25th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $138.00 to $168.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 10th.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

EXP opened at $136.80 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.82 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a current ratio of 2.36, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Eagle Materials has a twelve month low of $101.98 and a twelve month high of $152.15. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $142.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.98.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The construction company reported $3.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.19 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $511.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $532.95 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 20.83% and a return on equity of 38.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.53 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Eagle Materials will post 12.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.73%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.64%.

Insider Activity at Eagle Materials

In related news, EVP Eric Cribbs sold 1,401 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.39, for a total value of $203,691.39. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,331,910.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Eagle Materials news, EVP Eric Cribbs sold 1,401 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.39, for a total transaction of $203,691.39. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 16,039 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,331,910.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Michael Haack sold 18,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.76, for a total transaction of $2,693,694.08. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 89,542 shares in the company, valued at $12,962,099.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,992 shares of company stock worth $6,427,728 in the last ninety days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 23.6% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 388 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 157.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 404 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 457 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials in the 4th quarter worth approximately $71,000. 93.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Eagle Materials

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Eagle Materials, Inc engages in the provision of heavy construction materials and light building materials. It operates through the following segments: Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, Gypsum Wallboard, and Recycled Paperboard. The Cement segment deals with the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of Portland cement.