Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Stock Rating Lowered by Wells Fargo & Company

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on EXP. Citigroup cut Eagle Materials from a “neutral” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. 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. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $219.78.

Eagle Materials Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of EXP opened at $186.94 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 1.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 3.23. Eagle Materials has a 52 week low of $171.99 and a 52 week high of $245.53. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $206.04.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.37 by ($0.08). Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 26.87% and a net margin of 17.32%.The company had revenue of $650.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.76 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eagle Materials news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 3,074 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.96, for a total transaction of $626,973.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,562.32. This represents a 23.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,426 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $332,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,782 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $401,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $228,000 after buying an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,294 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $245,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 4.9% during the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. 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.