Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Takes Position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 2,096 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $518,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in 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 acquiring an additional 878,400 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Eagle Materials by 60.3% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Eagle Materials by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 707,607 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $203,585,000 after buying an additional 23,911 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA grew its stake in Eagle Materials by 46.2% during the 3rd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 500,273 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,904,000 after buying an additional 158,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in 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 buying an additional 9,216 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael R. Nicolais purchased 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $257.36 per share, for a total transaction of $79,781.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 3,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $940,650.80. The trade was a 9.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

NYSE:EXP opened at $216.21 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $243.74 and a 200-day moving average of $268.75. The firm has a market cap of $7.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Eagle Materials Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.44 and a twelve month high of $321.93.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 EPS 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%. Analysts forecast that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is currently 7.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXP has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital lowered Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $292.40.

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.