Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Short Interest Down 10.7% in October

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) saw a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a decrease of 10.7% from the October 15th total of 1,210,000 shares. Approximately 3.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 275,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on 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 increased their target price on Eagle Materials from $309.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

In other news, Director George John Damiris sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.62, for a total transaction of $277,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 7,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,205,135.66. This trade represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Tony Thompson sold 1,401 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.00, for a total value of $439,914.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,148,568. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,801,257 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,093,432,000 after purchasing an additional 878,400 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 25.2% in the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 805,257 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $175,111,000 after purchasing an additional 162,049 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 707,607 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $203,585,000 after purchasing an additional 23,911 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 595,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $129,449,000 after purchasing an additional 28,003 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 529,701 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $115,189,000 after purchasing an additional 132,677 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

EXP stock traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $300.77. 45,946 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 304,034. Eagle Materials has a twelve month low of $173.05 and a twelve month high of $317.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $290.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $257.56.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $4.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by ($0.44). The firm had revenue of $623.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $651.46 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 21.32% and a return on equity of 35.79%. The firm’s revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eagle Materials will post 15.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.06%.

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.