Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Upgraded to Hold at Royal Bank Of Canada

Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EXP. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Eagle Materials from $251.00 to $241.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $210.00 price target (down from $280.00) on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Friday, December 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Eagle Materials from $232.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $215.00 price objective (down from $230.00) on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Monday, February 16th. Finally, Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Eagle Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $228.36.

Eagle Materials Trading Up 3.0%

Shares of NYSE EXP opened at $231.93 on Tuesday. Eagle Materials has a 1 year low of $191.91 and a 1 year high of $243.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 4.27 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $222.86 and a 200 day moving average of $224.90. The stock has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 1.38.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.32 by ($0.10). Eagle Materials had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 28.96%. The business had revenue of $555.96 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $556.41 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $3.59 EPS. Eagle Materials’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eagle Materials will post 14.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 13th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.57%.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EXP. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 21.5% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 2,019 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $448,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 1.4% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,671 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,369,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Eagle Materials in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,977,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 5,057 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,022,000 after buying an additional 152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Markel Group Inc. raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 157.1% during the 2nd quarter. Markel Group Inc. now owns 9,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. 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.