Eagle Materials Inc. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NYSE:EXP)

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, August 6th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share by the construction company on Thursday, October 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th.

Eagle Materials has increased its dividend by an average of 115.4% per year over the last three years. Eagle Materials has a payout ratio of 5.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Eagle Materials to earn $17.75 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 5.6%.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EXP traded up $2.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $245.77. 278,188 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 321,513. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.22 and a beta of 1.32. Eagle Materials has a 52-week low of $145.03 and a 52-week 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $229.41 and a 200-day moving average of $242.82.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.37. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 37.10% and a net margin of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $608.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $622.06 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.55 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 15.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Eagle Materials

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on EXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $238.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com lowered Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.78.

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.