Raymond James & Associates Cuts Position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Raymond James & Associates lowered its position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 7.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 65,264 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,428 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates’ holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $18,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXP. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 26.3% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 859 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Eagle Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $316,000. Mayport LLC acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $431,000. Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 10,327 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,971,000 after acquiring an additional 368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 24.9% during the 3rd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,160 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $621,000 after acquiring an additional 431 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 60,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,135,778.88. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director George John Damiris sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.62, for a total transaction of $277,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,205,135.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,135,778.88. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,851 shares of company stock worth $2,124,258. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of EXP opened at $288.02 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 $306.36. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $252.14. The company has a market capitalization of $9.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.15 and a beta of 1.32.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.37. The company had revenue of $608.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $622.06 million. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 37.10% and a net margin of 21.65%. The company’s revenue was up 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $3.55 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 15.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.34%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXP has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $309.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Raymond James downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stephens raised their price objective on Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.78.

About Eagle Materials

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.