Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Stock Position Reduced by Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP cut its position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 27.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,257 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 3,792 shares during the period. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $2,531,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 30.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,801,257 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,093,432,000 after purchasing an additional 878,400 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 60.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,133 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $499,111,000 after acquiring an additional 652,836 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 707,607 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $203,585,000 after acquiring an additional 23,911 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 46.2% during the third quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 500,273 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $143,904,000 after acquiring an additional 158,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in Eagle Materials by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 349,756 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $100,607,000 after purchasing an additional 9,216 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

EXP stock opened at $217.86 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $238.68 and its 200 day moving average is $266.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 2.76. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 52 week low of $205.44 and a 52 week high of $321.93. The firm has a market cap of $7.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.56 and a beta of 1.37.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.38). Eagle Materials had a net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 34.14%. Research analysts predict that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Eagle Materials

In other news, Director Michael R. Nicolais acquired 310 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $257.36 per share, with a total value of $79,781.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $940,650.80. This trade represents a 9.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EXP. Citigroup cut Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Loop Capital cut Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, November 25th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $286.40.

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.