DF Dent & Co. Inc. Has $31.68 Million Stock Holdings in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

DF Dent & Co. Inc. decreased its position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 128,385 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 4,603 shares during the period. DF Dent & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $31,680,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 722,995 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $178,450,000 after buying an additional 15,388 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $93,672,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 0.7% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in Eagle Materials by 16.2% in the fourth 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. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on EXP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered 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. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Eagle Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $242.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $334.00 to $280.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Eagle Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $279.40.

Insider Activity at Eagle Materials

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

Eagle Materials Trading Up 3.3 %

EXP opened at $234.98 on Thursday. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.44 and a 1-year high of $321.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $234.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.82 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

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

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

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 issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 7.14%.

Eagle Materials Company 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.