Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Announces Earnings Results

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The construction company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.38), Zacks reports. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 35.79% and a net margin of 21.32%.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:EXP opened at $257.45 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $267.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $269.86. 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 stock has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.48 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials has a 1-year low of $211.44 and a 1-year high of $321.93.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.06%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Citigroup lowered Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $300.89.

Insider Transactions at Eagle Materials

In other news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 3,577 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.30, for a total value of $1,074,173.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $330,330. The trade was a 76.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,212 shares in the company, valued at $4,148,568. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 16,866 shares of company stock valued at $5,205,311. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.