Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) Downgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to Hold

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) was downgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $225.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Eagle Materials from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Zacks Research cut Eagle Materials from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eagle Materials has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $219.78.

Eagle Materials Trading Down 1.9%

NYSE:EXP opened at $186.94 on Wednesday. Eagle Materials has a fifty-two week low of $171.99 and a fifty-two week high of $245.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 3.23 and a quick ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78 and a beta of 1.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $206.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $206.04.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $650.97 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $620.35 million. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 26.87% and a net margin of 17.32%.Eagle Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.76 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Eagle Materials will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 3,074 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $203.96, for a total transaction of $626,973.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 10,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,562.32. This represents a 23.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Eagle Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 5,116.3% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 25,612 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $4,852,000 after purchasing an additional 25,121 shares during the last quarter. Black Creek Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in Eagle Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $103,778,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Eagle Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $1,080,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 2.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 627,427 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $118,846,000 after buying an additional 16,782 shares during the period. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,055,000. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

About Eagle Materials

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.