Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 61 Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 920 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 61 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Eagle Materials in the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Eagle Materials in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $81,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Eagle Materials by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $167,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Eagle Materials by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 760 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd lifted its position in Eagle Materials by 789.9% in the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 703 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

EXP has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup cut Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Loop Capital cut Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their target price on Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Eagle Materials currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.80.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of EXP stock opened at $240.48 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.18 and a beta of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $252.56 and its 200 day moving average is $270.74. Eagle Materials Inc. has a twelve month low of $211.44 and a twelve month high of $321.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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 the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.38). Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 20.91%. Research analysts expect that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 0.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael R. Nicolais bought 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $257.36 per share, with a total value of $79,781.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $940,650.80. The trade was a 9.27 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael Haack sold 11,888 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.50, for a total value of $3,691,224.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 85,811 shares in the company, valued at $26,644,315.50. This trade represents a 12.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.