Wall Street Zen Upgrades Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) to “Hold”

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) was upgraded by research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $215.00 price target (down from $230.00) on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Monday, February 16th. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on Eagle Materials from $225.00 to $210.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Stephens restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $245.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Eagle Materials from $232.00 to $224.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $228.36.

Eagle Materials Stock Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE EXP opened at $197.13 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 4.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market cap of $6.20 billion, a PE ratio of 14.92 and a beta of 1.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.61 and its 200 day simple moving average is $223.93. Eagle Materials has a 12-month low of $191.91 and a 12-month high of $243.64.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.22 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.32 by ($0.10). The company had revenue of $555.96 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $556.41 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 18.70% and a return on equity of 28.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.59 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Eagle Materials will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Eagle Materials

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 14.6% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 511,372 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,179,000 after purchasing an additional 65,072 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Eagle Materials by 61.1% during the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 500,474 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $116,630,000 after purchasing an additional 189,725 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Eagle Materials by 486.7% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 14,252 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 11,823 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Eagle Materials by 212.9% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 7,610 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,538,000 after buying an additional 5,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the second quarter valued at $2,001,000. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Company Profile

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) is a Dallas, Texas–based manufacturer of building materials serving construction and heavy industry markets across the United States. The company’s primary products include portland and masonry cements, gypsum wallboard, lightweight aggregate, paperboard packaging, and roofing granules. These product lines support a wide range of end uses—from residential and commercial buildings to infrastructure projects and industrial applications.

Since its spin-off from a major homebuilding company in 2004, Eagle Materials has grown through targeted facility expansions and strategic acquisitions.