Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday morning. The firm issued a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James lifted their target price on Eagle Materials from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Eagle Materials from $138.00 to $168.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 10th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on Eagle Materials from $135.00 to $145.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Eagle Materials from $130.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Friday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $151.13.

Eagle Materials Trading Down 2.7 %

NYSE EXP opened at $131.92 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.40 and a beta of 1.30. Eagle Materials has a 52 week low of $101.98 and a 52 week high of $152.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $142.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $130.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 26th. The construction company reported $3.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.19 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $511.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $532.95 million. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 38.27% and a net margin of 20.83%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.53 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Eagle Materials will post 12.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 17th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.76%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.64%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eagle Materials news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 2,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $420,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,934 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,100. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Eagle Materials news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 2,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total value of $420,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 12,934 shares in the company, valued at $1,940,100. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Michael Haack sold 18,608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.76, for a total value of $2,693,694.08. Following the completion of 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 43,992 shares of company stock valued at $6,427,728. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 93,100 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $10,235,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the period. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC now owns 29,258 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,136,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares during the period. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 160.1% during the 3rd quarter. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC now owns 19,013 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,038,000 after purchasing an additional 11,704 shares during the period. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 3rd quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 29.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 21,468 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,301,000 after purchasing an additional 4,850 shares during the period. 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.