Brokerages Set Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Target Price at $289.78

Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the nine analysts that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $289.78.

EXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Raymond James downgraded Eagle Materials from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.76, for a total transaction of $1,333,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,135,778.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Eagle Materials news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.76, for a total value of $1,333,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,135,778.88. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric Cribbs sold 1,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.06, for a total transaction of $512,838.06. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 13,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,861,385.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,851 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,258 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 95 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Tompkins Financial Corp purchased a new position in Eagle Materials in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Eagle Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Eagle Materials by 132.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 114 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

EXP stock opened at $287.67 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $251.73 and its 200 day simple moving average is $247.08. Eagle Materials has a 12-month low of $145.03 and a 12-month high of $293.00. The firm has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.37. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 21.65% and a return on equity of 37.10%. The company had revenue of $608.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $622.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eagle Materials will post 15.9 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

Eagle Materials Company Profile

Eagle Materials Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells heavy construction materials and light building materials in the United States. It operates in four segments: Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, Gypsum Wallboard, and Recycled Paperboard. The company engages in the mining of limestone for the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of Portland cement, including Portland limestone cement; grinding and sale of slag; and mining of gypsum for the manufacture and sale of gypsum wallboards used to finish the interior walls and ceilings in residential, commercial, and industrial structures, as well as well as containerboard and lightweight packaging grades; manufacture and sale of recycled paperboard to the gypsum wallboard industry and other paperboard converters; the sale of readymix concrete; and mining and sale of aggregates, such as crushed stone, sand, and gravel.