Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Acquires 279 Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P increased its holdings in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 0.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 81,969 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $23,579,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 1st quarter worth about $42,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 132.7% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 114 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 351,258 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $95,455,000 after purchasing an additional 3,897 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Eagle Materials by 10.8% during the first quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,464 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp acquired a new position in Eagle Materials during the first quarter valued at approximately $586,000. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on EXP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Stephens boosted their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital downgraded Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $304.89.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 1,401 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.00, for a total value of $439,914.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,568. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director George John Damiris sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.62, for a total transaction of $277,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 7,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,205,135.66. The trade was a 11.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,866 shares of company stock worth $5,482,931. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Trading Down 1.7 %

Eagle Materials stock opened at $309.96 on Wednesday. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 12 month low of $177.67 and a 12 month high of $321.93. The stock has a market cap of $10.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $294.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $259.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $4.31 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by ($0.44). Eagle Materials had a net margin of 21.32% and a return on equity of 35.79%. The firm had revenue of $623.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $651.46 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $4.28 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 15.24 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.06%.

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.