Citigroup Cuts Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Price Target to $190.00

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) had its target price cut by Citigroup from $232.00 to $190.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the construction company’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on EXP. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Friday, September 11th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $220.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, September 14th. Zacks Research cut shares of Eagle Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 27th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $196.00 price objective (down from $231.00) on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $213.67.

Eagle Materials Trading Down 0.2%

Eagle Materials stock opened at $171.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 3.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.53 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $195.57 and a two-hundred day moving average of $202.34. Eagle Materials has a one year low of $167.32 and a one year high of $245.53.

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

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 14th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 7.91%.

Insider Transactions at Eagle Materials

In other Eagle Materials news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 3,074 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.96, for a total transaction of $626,973.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,142 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,068,562.32. The trade was a 23.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EXP. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Eagle Materials during the second quarter valued at $688,486,000. Baupost Group LLC MA grew its position in Eagle Materials by 26.1% during the 4th quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,185,248 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $244,967,000 after purchasing an additional 245,588 shares during the period. W1M Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Eagle Materials during the 2nd quarter worth about $155,199,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $129,760,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 627,427 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $118,846,000 after buying an additional 16,782 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

About Eagle Materials

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE: EXP) is a Dallas-based manufacturer of basic building materials used in residential, commercial and infrastructure construction. Its primary products include Portland cement, ready-mixed concrete, aggregates, gypsum wallboard and gypsum paperboard.

The company operates through businesses focused on cement, concrete and aggregates, and gypsum wallboard and paperboard. Its materials are sold primarily in the United States, with production and distribution operations serving markets across several regions, including the central, southern and southwestern parts of the country.

Eagle Materials traces its origins to the construction-materials operations formerly associated with Centex Corporation and became an independent, publicly traded company in 1994.