Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 31.8% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 78,435 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 36,592 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $22,562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EXP. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Eagle Materials by 38.8% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,141 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after acquiring an additional 1,438 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 62,839 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $17,076,000 after purchasing an additional 3,247 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the 1st quarter valued at about $55,000. Bleakley Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Eagle Materials during the 1st quarter worth approximately $703,000. Finally, Eagle Bay Advisors LLC increased its position in Eagle Materials by 79.2% during the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 95 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXP has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” 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. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $303.78.

Eagle Materials Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of Eagle Materials stock opened at $308.25 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $10.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77 and a beta of 1.32. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 52-week low of $171.19 and a 52-week high of $317.00. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $286.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $256.53. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $4.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.75 by ($0.44). The business had revenue of $623.62 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $651.46 million. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 35.79% and a net margin of 21.32%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 15.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

In other news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 1,401 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.00, for a total transaction of $439,914.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,568. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 1,401 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.00, for a total transaction of $439,914.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,568. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director George John Damiris sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.62, for a total value of $277,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,205,135.66. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.