Eagle Materials (EXP) PT Lowered to $305 at Loop Capital

Loop Capital analyst Garik Shmois lowered the price target on Eagle Materials (NYSE: EXP) to $305.00 (from $310.00) while maintaining a Buy rating.

The analyst comments "EXP reported a worse than expected quarter mainly on weaker cement margins. Cement pricing was fine as EXP passed January increases in half their markets, with another majority receiving them in April, finally to round out increases in the remaining regions to go out this summer. The main reason for the suppressed cement margin was the $7M of maintenance costs that were unexpected sounding. Wallboard pricing came in better than we expected, but volumes slightly missed. Although management seems positive moving forward in the single family demand environment, we believe there could be several more muted quarters of demand, and while we're still positive on the 1Q price increase, future increases this year might be difficult to pursue and secure. Overall, we remain BUY-rated on EXP but trimmed our PT by $5 to $305. We see good value on the pullback though admit the shares could be range bound pending a new catalyst as cement price and margin concerns have popped and the housing trade that benefited wallboard have run out of steam. That said, for long term investors, we like EXP's plans to grow cement volumes and believe wallboard margins have structurally re-set higher."

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