Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $224.30.

Several research firms have commented on EXP. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Eagle Materials from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Eagle Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Eagle Materials stock opened at $233.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.82 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Eagle Materials has a twelve month low of $171.99 and a twelve month high of $245.53. The company’s fifty day moving average is $211.61 and its 200 day moving average is $211.79.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The construction company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.32. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 28.27%. The business had revenue of $479.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.00 earnings per share. Eagle Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is presently 7.62%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $103,778,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Eagle Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $90,147,000. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its position in Eagle Materials by 39.0% during the 3rd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 939,660 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $218,978,000 after buying an additional 263,403 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $52,674,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,812,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Company Profile

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.