Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Sets New 12-Month Low - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Eagle Materials shares fell to a new 52-week low of $163.51, well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages of $190.17 and $201.75, respectively.
• Analysts remain cautious: all 10 covering analysts rate the stock a Hold, with a consensus price target of $202.33, while several firms recently lowered their targets.
• The company’s latest quarterly results were mixed, with revenue of $650.97 million exceeding estimates but EPS of $3.29 missing expectations; Eagle Materials also pays a $0.25 quarterly dividend, yielding about 0.6%.

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $163.51 and last traded at $163.7060, with a volume of 360,906 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $164.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $210.00 to $165.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Stephens boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $196.00 to $188.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 5th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $220.00 to $207.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to data from MarketBeat, Eagle Materials currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $202.33.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $5.02 billion, a PE ratio of 12.94 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $190.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $201.75.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.37 by ($0.08). Eagle Materials had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 26.87%. The business had revenue of $650.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.76 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc will post 12.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 14th. Eagle Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Materials

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Eagle Materials in the second quarter valued at $688,486,000. W1M Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Eagle Materials during the second quarter valued at about $155,199,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 16,782 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Eagle Materials during the second quarter worth about $129,760,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Eagle Materials during the second quarter worth about $66,255,000. 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.

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