Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Downgraded by Citigroup to “Neutral”

Citigroup lowered shares of Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $280.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $334.00.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on EXP. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Loop Capital cut Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $301.44.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of EXP opened at $243.94 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $283.76 and its 200-day moving average is $266.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $8.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.23 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials has a fifty-two week low of $197.58 and a fifty-two week high of $321.93.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $4.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.75 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $623.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $651.46 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 21.32% and a return on equity of 35.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.28 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Eagle Materials will post 15.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.06%.

Insider Activity

In other Eagle Materials news, CEO Michael Haack sold 11,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.50, for a total value of $3,691,224.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 85,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,644,315.50. The trade was a 12.17 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Tony Thompson sold 1,401 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.00, for a total transaction of $439,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,568. This trade represents a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 16,866 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,311. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXP. FMR LLC raised its position in Eagle Materials by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,801,257 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,093,432,000 after purchasing an additional 878,400 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Eagle Materials by 60.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,133 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $499,111,000 after buying an additional 652,836 shares in the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Eagle Materials by 25.2% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 805,257 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $175,111,000 after acquiring an additional 162,049 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Eagle Materials by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 707,607 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $203,585,000 after acquiring an additional 23,911 shares in the last quarter. Finally, William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 4.9% in the second quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 595,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $129,449,000 after acquiring an additional 28,003 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.