Eagle Materials Inc $EXP Shares Purchased by Westwood Holdings Group Inc.

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) by 85.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 106,258 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 49,112 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $21,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the first quarter worth $401,000. Mariner Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in Eagle Materials during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,011,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 1,822.3% during the 2nd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 44,193 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,932,000 after acquiring an additional 41,894 shares during the period. Weybosset Research & Management LLC grew its position in Eagle Materials by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter. Weybosset Research & Management LLC now owns 39,788 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $8,042,000 after acquiring an additional 4,265 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Novem Group purchased a new stake in Eagle Materials during the second quarter worth about $754,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on EXP shares. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $245.00 to $225.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $226.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $261.00 to $251.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Eagle Materials from $245.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Eagle Materials from $255.00 to $233.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $243.30.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of EXP opened at $226.85 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.74 and a beta of 1.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $221.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $220.56. Eagle Materials Inc has a twelve month low of $191.91 and a twelve month high of $277.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.72, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The construction company reported $4.23 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.35 by ($0.12). Eagle Materials had a net margin of 19.41% and a return on equity of 30.13%. The business had revenue of $638.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $635.55 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.31 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Eagle Materials Inc will post 14.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eagle Materials news, Director David E. Rush purchased 1,000 shares of the 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 completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 4,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $868,317.84. This trade represents a 31.52% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.