Brokerages Set Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) Target Price at $223.30

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $224.30.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on EXP. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $240.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Zacks Research raised shares of Eagle Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $224.00 to $217.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Eagle Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

NYSE:EXP opened at $217.82 on Tuesday. Eagle Materials has a one year low of $171.99 and a one year high of $243.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 3.66. The firm has a market cap of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.60 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $202.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $211.13.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The construction company reported $1.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.32. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 28.27%. The company had revenue of $479.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Eagle Materials will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.62%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eagle Materials

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,426 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 15.8% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 389 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 20.3% during the 3rd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,048 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $217,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,406 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Eagle Materials Company Profile

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.