Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Has $591,000 Stock Holdings in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 7.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,717 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $591,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in Eagle Materials by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 9,944 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,017,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 149.1% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,161 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $88,925,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 3,285 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 101,946 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $20,679,000 after acquiring an additional 26,967 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:EXP opened at $287.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $250.56 and its 200-day moving average is $246.93. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.03 and a 1-year high of $293.00.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $608.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $622.06 million. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 37.10% and a net margin of 21.65%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 15.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.34%.

Insider Activity at Eagle Materials

In related news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.76, for a total value of $1,333,800.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,488 shares in the company, valued at $16,135,778.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Eric Cribbs sold 1,851 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.06, for a total transaction of $512,838.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,861,385.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.76, for a total value of $1,333,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,488 shares in the company, valued at $16,135,778.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,851 shares of company stock worth $2,124,258 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on EXP shares. Stephens raised their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Raymond James downgraded Eagle Materials from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.78.

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.