Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stake in Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) by 1.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,023 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $2,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 111.4% in the first quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,918 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,535,000 after acquiring an additional 3,645 shares in the last quarter. Hi Line Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Materials in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,770,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 21.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $182,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Eagle Materials by 234.6% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 4,905 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in Eagle Materials by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 22,400 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Eagle Materials from $279.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 28th. Stephens set a $255.00 price objective on Eagle Materials and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen cut Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $242.00 target price on Eagle Materials and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 21st. Finally, Loop Capital cut their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $245.00 to $237.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $254.44.

Eagle Materials Stock Down 0.4%

EXP stock opened at $215.16 on Friday. Eagle Materials Inc has a one year low of $191.91 and a one year high of $321.93. The company has a fifty day moving average of $211.25 and a 200-day moving average of $225.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.84, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 20th. The construction company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.34 by ($0.26). Eagle Materials had a net margin of 20.50% and a return on equity of 32.71%. The firm had revenue of $470.18 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $483.14 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Eagle Materials Inc will post 14.39 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th 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 is Monday, June 16th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.27%.

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.