Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Hits New 1-Year High at $279.71

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $279.71 and last traded at $278.79, with a volume of 256032 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $270.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Loop Capital decreased their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $305.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target 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, Stephens boosted their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.78.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $246.00. The stock has a market cap of $9.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03 and a beta of 1.32.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $3.94 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $622.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 15.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

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

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 957,818 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $194,284,000 after buying an additional 63,636 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 5.5% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 919,714 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $249,932,000 after purchasing an additional 47,744 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 805,257 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $175,111,000 after purchasing an additional 162,049 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 595,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $129,449,000 after purchasing an additional 28,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 33.4% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 529,701 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $115,189,000 after purchasing an additional 132,677 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.