14,900 Shares in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Purchased by Macquarie Group Ltd.

Macquarie Group Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 14,900 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,187,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of EXP. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 18.0% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 458 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.2% in the first quarter. Guyasuta Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 3,183 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $467,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 4.2% in the first quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 1,846 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 488 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $65,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 0.6% in the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 16,673 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,447,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.57% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EXP opened at $173.91 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $184.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $166.31. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 1-year low of $101.98 and a 1-year high of $195.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.27 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 27th. The construction company reported $3.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.54 by $0.01. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 21.82% and a return on equity of 40.68%. The firm had revenue of $601.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $603.11 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 13.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.58%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $195.00 to $226.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 13th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $195.00 to $205.00 in a research report on Friday, July 14th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $176.00 to $193.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $140.00 to $175.00 in a research report on Monday, May 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $199.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.99, for a total value of $375,980.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,323,637.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $187.99, for a total value of $375,980.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,323,637.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Matt Newby sold 5,613 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.00, for a total transaction of $1,066,470.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,819 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,145,610. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 8,613 shares of company stock worth $1,624,730 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

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; 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.