Arizona State Retirement System Decreases Stake in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,905 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 208 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $2,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EXP. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 41.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,510,906 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $418,116,000 after purchasing an additional 730,454 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 271.7% during the 3rd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 666,874 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $111,048,000 after purchasing an additional 487,454 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 4th quarter worth about $60,428,000. Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 180.3% during the 1st quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 470,479 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $60,390,000 after purchasing an additional 302,625 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,097,542 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $182,763,000 after purchasing an additional 203,862 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $215.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $170.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 19th. Finally, Truist Financial upped their target price on Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $242.20.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

EXP stock opened at $257.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $8.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.15 and a beta of 1.34. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 12-month low of $142.10 and a 12-month high of $272.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $208.22.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The construction company reported $3.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.56 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $558.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $537.23 million. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 40.05% and a net margin of 22.24%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.06%.

Insider Activity at Eagle Materials

In related news, SVP William R. Devlin sold 2,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.95, for a total transaction of $505,992.30. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,373,320.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP William R. Devlin sold 2,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.95, for a total transaction of $505,992.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 24,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,373,320.10. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.60, for a total value of $1,078,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,498,716. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 19,444 shares of company stock valued at $4,414,889. Corporate 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.