Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Sets New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Tuesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $225.00 to $200.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Eagle Materials traded as low as $163.51 and last traded at $163.7060, with a volume of 360,906 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $164.70.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson cut their target price on Eagle Materials from $220.00 to $207.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Eagle Materials from $232.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Truist Financial dropped their price target on Eagle Materials from $210.00 to $165.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Eagle Materials from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating. According to data from MarketBeat, Eagle Materials presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $199.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 3,074 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.96, for a total transaction of $626,973.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 10,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,562.32. This represents a 23.26% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of EXP. Reinhart Partners LLC. raised its position in Eagle Materials by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Reinhart Partners LLC. now owns 23,750 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,062,000 after buying an additional 1,134 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $395,000. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 19.9% in the 3rd quarter. Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 2,932 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $501,000 after acquiring an additional 486 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the 3rd quarter worth $965,000. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 29.5% in the 3rd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 6,321 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,081,000 after acquiring an additional 1,439 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eagle Materials Trading Down 0.3%

The firm has a market cap of $5.01 billion, a PE ratio of 12.92 and a beta of 1.33. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $188.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $201.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 3.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $3.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $650.97 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.35 million. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 26.87% and a net margin of 17.32%. The company’s revenue was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $3.76 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eagle Materials Inc will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 14th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 14th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

About Eagle Materials

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE: EXP) is a Dallas-based manufacturer of basic building materials used in residential, commercial and infrastructure construction. Its primary products include Portland cement, ready-mixed concrete, aggregates, gypsum wallboard and gypsum paperboard.

The company operates through businesses focused on cement, concrete and aggregates, and gypsum wallboard and paperboard. Its materials are sold primarily in the United States, with production and distribution operations serving markets across several regions, including the central, southern and southwestern parts of the country.

Eagle Materials traces its origins to the construction-materials operations formerly associated with Centex Corporation and became an independent, publicly traded company in 1994.