Eagle Materials Inc $EXP Holdings Lowered by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc cut its stake in Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,573 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 813 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $1,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Eagle Materials in the first quarter worth approximately $257,000. AE Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the first quarter valued at $382,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in Eagle Materials by 12.6% during the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 1,480 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 166 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Eagle Materials by 12.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 7,965 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,768,000 after buying an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Eagle Materials by 486.6% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 393 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EXP. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $255.00 to $233.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $246.00 price target on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $226.00 price target on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Eagle Materials from $245.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $243.30.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eagle Materials news, Director David E. Rush acquired 1,000 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $208.08 per share, with a total value of $208,080.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 4,173 shares in the company, valued at approximately $868,317.84. The trade was a 31.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Stock Up 0.8%

EXP stock opened at $221.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 1.31. Eagle Materials Inc has a 52-week low of $191.91 and a 52-week high of $312.67. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.84.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The construction company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.12). Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 31.21% and a net margin of 19.81%.The firm had revenue of $638.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $635.55 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc will post 14.39 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is currently 7.38%.

Eagle Materials Profile

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.