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

Key Points

• Eagle Materials Inc has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from eleven research firms, with seven analysts rating it as hold, three as buy, and one as strong buy.
• Hedge funds have shown increased interest, with Fort Washington Investment Advisors boosting their stake by 34.8% in the third quarter, leading to institutional investors owning 96.07% of the stock.
• The company reported $3.76 earnings per share for its last quarter, surpassing estimates, along with a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, reflecting a 0.4% dividend yield.

Shares of Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the eleven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $255.40.

EXP has been the subject of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eagle Materials to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $230.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $220.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH boosted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 34.8% during the third quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH now owns 108,961 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $25,392,000 after purchasing an additional 28,110 shares in the last quarter. Bretton Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Eagle Materials by 17.9% during the third quarter. Bretton Capital Management LLC now owns 23,100 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,383,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Eagle Materials during the third quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Asio Capital LLC lifted its position in Eagle Materials by 16.2% during the third quarter. Asio Capital LLC now owns 12,970 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $3,023,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its position in Eagle Materials by 1.8% during the third quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 2,799 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $652,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

Eagle Materials stock opened at $237.28 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47 and a beta of 1.31. Eagle Materials has a twelve month low of $191.91 and a twelve month high of $321.93. The company's 50-day moving average price is $232.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.73 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $634.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $611.52 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 19.81% and a return on equity of 31.21%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 14.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Eagle Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.36%.

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.

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