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

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 0.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 77,748 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 687 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.23% of Eagle Materials worth $19,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,801,257 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,093,432,000 after purchasing an additional 878,400 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Eagle Materials by 60.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,133 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $499,111,000 after buying an additional 652,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Eagle Materials by 3.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 707,607 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $203,585,000 after buying an additional 23,911 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 500,273 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $143,904,000 after acquiring an additional 158,171 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 349,756 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $100,607,000 after acquiring an additional 9,216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael R. Nicolais acquired 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $257.36 per share, with a total value of $79,781.60. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $940,650.80. This represents a 9.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup downgraded Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $296.80.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:EXP opened at $227.29 on Tuesday. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 1-year low of $211.44 and a 1-year high of $321.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $249.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $270.62. The firm has a market cap of $7.57 billion, a PE ratio of 16.24 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by ($0.38). Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 20.91%. On average, equities analysts expect that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.14%.

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.