Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Grows Stake in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 5.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,931 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $1,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in Eagle Materials by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 15,821 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $3,209,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 25.7% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 10,732 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,196 shares during the period. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,965 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Eagle Materials by 30.8% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 2,230 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $1,148,000. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Eagle Materials Trading Up 1.3 %

Eagle Materials stock opened at $285.08 on Friday. 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 fifty-two week low of $145.03 and a fifty-two week high of $293.00. The stock has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.95 and a beta of 1.32. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $259.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $248.83.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $3.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.57 by $0.37. The business had revenue of $608.69 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $622.06 million. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 37.10% and a net margin of 21.65%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.55 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 15.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

In other news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were 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 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Eagle Materials news, insider Eric Cribbs sold 1,851 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.06, for a total transaction of $512,838.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 13,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,861,385.22. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders sold a total of 7,851 shares of company stock worth $2,124,258 over the last three months. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.