Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) have been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $226.00.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on EXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Eagle Materials from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on Eagle Materials from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of EXP. Baupost Group LLC MA boosted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,185,248 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $244,967,000 after purchasing an additional 245,588 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 627,427 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $118,846,000 after purchasing an additional 16,782 shares during the period. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $103,778,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the fourth quarter valued at about $90,147,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 4.6% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 363,508 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $84,712,000 after buying an additional 15,899 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

NYSE EXP opened at $221.30 on Wednesday. Eagle Materials has a fifty-two week low of $171.99 and a fifty-two week high of $245.53. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $214.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.10. The firm has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.87 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 3.66 and a quick ratio of 2.09.

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

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

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

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.