Short Interest in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Increases By 43.0%

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,390,000 shares, an increase of 43.0% from the February 28th total of 971,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 354,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days. Approximately 4.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EXP. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup cut Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $334.00 to $280.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on Eagle Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $242.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $286.40.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EXP traded down $4.81 during trading on Friday, hitting $221.02. 204,365 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 317,918. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $236.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.50. The company has a market cap of $7.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials has a 52-week low of $205.44 and a 52-week high of $321.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by ($0.38). Eagle Materials had a net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 34.14%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Eagle Materials will post 14.39 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

In other Eagle Materials news, Director Michael R. Nicolais acquired 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $257.36 per share, with a total value of $79,781.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,655 shares in the company, valued at $940,650.80. This represents a 9.27 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,801,532 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $444,546,000 after purchasing an additional 66,399 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Eagle Materials by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 722,995 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $178,450,000 after buying an additional 15,388 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA increased its stake in Eagle Materials by 27.6% in the 4th quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 638,223 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $157,488,000 after acquiring an additional 137,950 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 594,899 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $146,797,000 after acquiring an additional 55,578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 592,069 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $146,099,000 after acquiring an additional 13,988 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

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.