Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Cuts Stake in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P cut its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 80,782 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,187 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $19,934,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,801,532 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $444,546,000 after purchasing an additional 66,399 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 23,911 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 349,756 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $100,607,000 after buying an additional 9,216 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 322,384 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $79,551,000 after acquiring an additional 2,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 270,711 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $66,801,000 after acquiring an additional 37,689 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eagle Materials news, Director Michael R. Nicolais bought 310 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $257.36 per share, with a total value of $79,781.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $940,650.80. This represents a 9.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Eagle Materials Trading Down 2.1 %

Shares of EXP opened at $221.02 on Friday. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.44 and a 1-year high of $321.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $236.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $265.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.79 and a beta of 1.37.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 EPS 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on EXP shares. DA Davidson decreased their price target on Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup cut shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.