Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Reduce" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a cautious outlook: Ten brokerages assign Eagle Materials an average “Reduce” rating, with nine holds and one sell. Their average 12-month price target is approximately $219.78.
• Eagle Materials’ latest quarterly earnings per share of $3.29 missed estimates of $3.37, although revenue of $650.97 million exceeded expectations and rose 2.6% year over year.
• The stock opened at $186.94, down 1.9%, while the company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, equivalent to a 0.5% yield.

Shares of Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Reduce" by the ten brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and nine have assigned a hold rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $219.7778.

EXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stephens lifted their price target on Eagle Materials from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson initiated coverage on Eagle Materials in a research note on Monday, August 24th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $220.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Eagle Materials from $208.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Eagle Materials from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eagle Materials news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 3,074 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.96, for a total value of $626,973.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,142 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,068,562.32. This trade represents a 23.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 21,446.1% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 8,172,000 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,838,700,000 after purchasing an additional 8,134,072 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eagle Materials in the second quarter worth approximately $688,486,000. W1M Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Eagle Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $155,199,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Eagle Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $129,760,000. Finally, Black Creek Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in Eagle Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,778,000. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company's stock.

Eagle Materials Stock Down 1.9%

EXP opened at $186.94 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $206.15 and a 200 day moving average of $206.04. The company has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 1.36. Eagle Materials has a 12 month low of $171.99 and a 12 month high of $245.53. The company has a current ratio of 3.23, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $650.97 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $620.35 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 26.87%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.76 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eagle Materials will post 12.66 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Eagle Materials's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

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.

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