Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 1.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,926,337 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 43,770 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 11.40% of Eagle Materials worth $796,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $326,000. Marketfield Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $3,826,000. RMB Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. RMB Capital Management LLC now owns 114,512 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $23,228,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. L1 Capital International Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the fourth quarter worth about $10,729,000. Finally, Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC grew its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 7.1% during the fourth quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC now owns 957,818 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $194,284,000 after buying an additional 63,636 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on EXP shares. Raymond James upped their price target on Eagle Materials from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Eagle Materials from $300.00 to $286.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 22nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on Eagle Materials from $311.00 to $297.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Stephens upped their price target on Eagle Materials from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Eagle Materials from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $279.67.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Eagle Materials stock opened at $216.48 on Friday. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 12 month low of $145.03 and a 12 month high of $276.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 2.62 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $243.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $235.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89 and a beta of 1.33.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 21st. The construction company reported $2.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.72 by ($0.48). Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 37.31% and a net margin of 21.14%. The business had revenue of $476.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $480.20 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.79 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 16.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.34%.

Eagle Materials Company 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.