Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to Hold Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Saturday morning.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on EXP. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $251.00 to $241.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $208.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $215.00 target price (down from $230.00) on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Monday, February 16th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Stephens reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $245.00 price target on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $228.36.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

EXP opened at $197.13 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $222.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $223.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92 and a beta of 1.35. Eagle Materials has a 52 week low of $191.91 and a 52 week high of $243.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 4.27.

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

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.57%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Eagle Materials by 14.6% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 511,372 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $119,179,000 after buying an additional 65,072 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 61.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 500,474 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $116,630,000 after purchasing an additional 189,725 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in Eagle Materials by 486.7% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 14,252 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 11,823 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 212.9% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,610 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,538,000 after purchasing an additional 5,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new position in Eagle Materials in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,001,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

About Eagle Materials

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.