Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Stock Breaks Above Fifty Day Moving Average - Here's Why

Key Points

• Eagle Materials shares rose above their 50-day moving average, reaching $183.93 before last trading at about $181.71, compared with a 50-day average of $180.62.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: ten analysts rate the stock “Hold” and one rates it “Sell,” producing a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $195.22.
• The company’s latest quarterly results were mixed, with revenue of $650.97 million exceeding estimates but EPS of $3.29 missing expectations; Eagle also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25, yielding 0.6% annually.

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $180.62 and traded as high as $183.93. Eagle Materials shares last traded at $181.7130, with a volume of 500,836 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Stephens lifted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $210.00 to $165.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Eagle Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $219.00 to $170.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $195.22.

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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $180.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $203.05. The company has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.36 and a beta of 1.33.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $3.37 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $650.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.35 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 26.87%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eagle Materials Inc will post 11.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 14th. Eagle Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXP. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $688,486,000. W1M Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Eagle Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $155,199,000. William Blair Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Eagle Materials during the second quarter worth about $129,760,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $66,255,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the second quarter worth approximately $51,858,000. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company's stock.

Eagle Materials Company Profile

Eagle Materials Inc NYSE: EXP is a U.S.-based manufacturer of building materials used in residential, commercial, infrastructure and industrial construction. The company's principal products include cement, gypsum wallboard, concrete and aggregates.

Its cement business produces and distributes Portland cement and related cement products, while its gypsum wallboard business supplies panels used in interior construction. Eagle Materials also provides ready-mixed concrete and construction aggregates, including crushed stone, sand and gravel, for building and infrastructure projects.

The company traces its history to Centex Construction Products, which was spun off from Centex Corporation in 1994 and later adopted the Eagle Materials name.

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