Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) Receives Average Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Eagle Materials has a consensus analyst rating of “Hold”, based on coverage from 11 brokerages. The average 12-month price target is $226.
• The company recently beat quarterly earnings and revenue estimates, posting EPS of $1.91 versus $1.59 expected and revenue of $479.11 million versus $451.99 million forecast.
• Eagle Materials also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25, equal to an annualized yield of about 0.5%, while institutional investors continue to hold the vast majority of shares.

Shares of Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eleven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $226.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on EXP shares. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $208.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research upgraded Eagle Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Eagle Materials from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd.

Eagle Materials Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE EXP opened at $204.34 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $6.31 billion, a PE ratio of 15.57 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials has a 12 month low of $171.99 and a 12 month high of $245.53. The company's 50-day moving average price is $213.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $211.08. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 19th. The construction company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.32. The company had revenue of $479.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.99 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 28.27%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.00 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 12.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Eagle Materials's dividend payout ratio is 7.62%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 26.1% in the 4th quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 1,185,248 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $244,967,000 after purchasing an additional 245,588 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 627,427 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $118,846,000 after purchasing an additional 16,782 shares in the last quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $103,778,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Eagle Materials during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $90,147,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Eagle Materials by 4.6% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 363,508 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $84,712,000 after buying an additional 15,899 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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