Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Shares Purchased by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 16.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 9,098 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,302 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $2,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. Quent Capital LLC lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 155.3% in the third quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 434 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $125,000 after buying an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 23.5% in the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 630 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $181,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd grew its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 789.9% during the third quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 703 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $202,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXP has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup downgraded Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $296.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eagle Materials news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 1,401 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,148,568. This represents a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Michael Haack sold 11,888 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $310.50, for a total value of $3,691,224.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 85,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,644,315.50. This represents a 12.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 16,866 shares of company stock worth $5,205,311 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Eagle Materials stock opened at $256.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.33 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials Inc. has a one year low of $211.44 and a one year high of $321.93. The business has a fifty day moving average of $264.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $269.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.34.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) 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 34.97%. As a group, analysts predict that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 15.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid 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 was Monday, December 16th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.