Short Interest in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Rises By 6.7%

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,060,000 shares, an increase of 6.7% from the March 15th total of 993,200 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 300,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EXP. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $170.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $244.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $238.00 to $273.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.00.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

NYSE EXP traded down $1.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $248.78. 197,787 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 258,290. Eagle Materials has a 52-week low of $142.12 and a 52-week high of $272.72. The company has a market capitalization of $8.57 billion, a PE ratio of 17.56 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 2.61 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $255.08 and its 200-day moving average is $210.62.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The construction company reported $3.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.16. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 40.05%. The company had revenue of $558.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $537.23 million. Equities analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 14.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

In other Eagle Materials news, SVP William R. Devlin sold 2,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.95, for a total value of $505,992.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,373,320.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Eagle Materials news, insider Eric Cribbs sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.66, for a total value of $429,320.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,654 shares in the company, valued at $3,360,287.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP William R. Devlin sold 2,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.95, for a total transaction of $505,992.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 24,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,373,320.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 19,444 shares of company stock valued at $4,414,889. 1.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,085,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 89,090 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $18,071,000 after buying an additional 10,514 shares during the period. Mariner LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 9,081 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 357 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 185.6% in the 3rd quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,193 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 2,075 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 329,032 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $54,790,000 after buying an additional 5,609 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other 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; 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.