1,984 Shares in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Acquired by MQS Management LLC

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,984 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $431,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EXP. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 95 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC raised its position in Eagle Materials by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,277 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 16.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 382 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $104,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Eagle Materials by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 9,644 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,097,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in Eagle Materials by 132.7% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 114 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EXP. Raymond James lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. StockNews.com cut shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 29th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $289.78.

Insider Transactions at Eagle Materials

In other Eagle Materials news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.76, for a total value of $1,333,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,135,778.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, insider Eric Cribbs sold 1,851 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.06, for a total transaction of $512,838.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,861,385.22. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.76, for a total transaction of $1,333,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 60,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,135,778.88. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 7,851 shares of company stock worth $2,124,258. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Trading Up 2.9 %

Shares of NYSE:EXP opened at $292.11 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $249.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $246.61. The company has a market capitalization of $9.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.39 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.45. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.03 and a 52-week high of $292.74.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.37. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 37.10% and a net margin of 21.65%. The company had revenue of $608.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $622.06 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.55 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 15.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.34%.

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.