Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Announces $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Monday, May 22nd, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Friday, June 16th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share by the construction company on Friday, July 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 15th.

Eagle Materials has raised its dividend by an average of 35.7% per year over the last three years. Eagle Materials has a dividend payout ratio of 7.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Eagle Materials to earn $14.92 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 6.7%.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

EXP stock opened at $166.75 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 2.45. The stock has a market cap of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.38 and a beta of 1.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $147.77 and a 200 day simple moving average of $141.57. Eagle Materials has a 52 week low of $101.98 and a 52 week high of $169.19.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 18th. The construction company reported $2.79 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.35 by $0.44. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 21.49% and a return on equity of 40.09%. The company had revenue of $470.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $452.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.90 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials will post 12.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $140.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday. Stephens raised their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $170.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Friday, May 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $130.00 to $149.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 27th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $140.00 to $152.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP William R. Devlin sold 4,914 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.30, for a total transaction of $827,026.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 26,269 shares in the company, valued at $4,421,072.70. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Eagle Materials

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EXP. Norges Bank bought a new position in Eagle Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $60,428,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its stake in Eagle Materials by 180.3% in the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 470,479 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,390,000 after purchasing an additional 302,625 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its stake in Eagle Materials by 3,532.8% in the 1st quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 186,872 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,423,000 after purchasing an additional 181,728 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,841,414 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $411,723,000 after acquiring an additional 110,695 shares during the period. Finally, Ancora Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 9,092.3% during the 1st quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 95,600 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $12,849,000 after acquiring an additional 94,560 shares during the period. 93.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eagle Materials Company Profile

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Eagle Materials, Inc engages in the provision of heavy construction materials and light building materials. It operates through the following segments: Cement, Concrete and Aggregates, Gypsum Wallboard, and Recycled Paperboard. The Cement segment deals with the manufacture, production, distribution, and sale of Portland cement.