JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Stock Price

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) had its price objective reduced by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $310.00 to $250.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “neutral” rating on the construction company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.15% from the company’s current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $242.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Citigroup lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Eagle Materials currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $286.40.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

NYSE:EXP opened at $217.10 on Wednesday. Eagle Materials has a one year low of $205.44 and a one year high of $321.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 2.76. The firm has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.51 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $239.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.11.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.38). Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 20.91%. Research analysts expect that Eagle Materials will post 14.39 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

In other Eagle Materials news, Director Michael R. Nicolais acquired 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $257.36 per share, for a total transaction of $79,781.60. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $940,650.80. The trade was a 9.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in EXP. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,801,257 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,093,432,000 after buying an additional 878,400 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,672,000. Baupost Group LLC MA increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 500,273 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,904,000 after buying an additional 158,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,115,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Company Profile

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.