Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Holdings in Eagle Materials Inc $EXP

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) by 1.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 408,989 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,872 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $77,491,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC increased its stake in Eagle Materials by 266.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 132 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 389.3% in the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 137 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Eagle Materials in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC purchased a new position in Eagle Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 102.4% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 172 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Stephens cut their price target on Eagle Materials from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Eagle Materials from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $226.00.

Eagle Materials Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of Eagle Materials stock opened at $213.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.09, a current ratio of 3.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials Inc has a fifty-two week low of $171.99 and a fifty-two week high of $245.53. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $213.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.20.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 19th. The construction company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.32. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 28.27% and a net margin of 18.36%.The firm had revenue of $479.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $451.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.00 earnings per share. Eagle Materials’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Eagle Materials Inc will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.62%.

About Eagle Materials

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) is a Dallas, Texas–based manufacturer of building materials serving construction and heavy industry markets across the United States. The company’s primary products include portland and masonry cements, gypsum wallboard, lightweight aggregate, paperboard packaging, and roofing granules. These product lines support a wide range of end uses—from residential and commercial buildings to infrastructure projects and industrial applications.

Since its spin-off from a major homebuilding company in 2004, Eagle Materials has grown through targeted facility expansions and strategic acquisitions.