Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Price Target Raised to $311.00

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) had its price objective upped by Citigroup from $252.00 to $311.00 in a research note published on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the construction company’s stock.

EXP has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Loop Capital lowered their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $238.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $300.00 to $286.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Eagle Materials from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eagle Materials presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $289.78.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

NYSE EXP opened at $253.59 on Thursday. Eagle Materials has a 12 month low of $145.03 and a 12 month high of $279.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.53 billion, a PE ratio of 18.62 and a beta of 1.32. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $229.30 and its 200 day simple moving average is $242.22.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.37. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 21.65% and a return on equity of 37.10%. The business had revenue of $608.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $622.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 15.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 7.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Eric Cribbs sold 1,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.06, for a total value of $512,838.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 13,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,861,385.22. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Eagle Materials news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.76, for a total transaction of $1,333,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 60,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,135,778.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric Cribbs sold 1,851 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.06, for a total transaction of $512,838.06. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,861,385.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 79.2% during the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 95 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in Eagle Materials in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Eagle Materials by 132.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 114 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

About Eagle Materials

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.