Cerity Partners LLC Takes $231,000 Position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Cerity Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,138 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Eagle Materials by 41.0% in 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 last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Eagle Materials by 271.7% during the third quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 666,874 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $111,048,000 after buying an additional 487,454 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Eagle Materials by 22.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,097,542 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $182,763,000 after buying an additional 203,862 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd bought a new position in Eagle Materials during the third quarter valued at about $16,894,000. Finally, First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its holdings in Eagle Materials by 413.5% in the 3rd quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 85,423 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $14,225,000 after acquiring an additional 68,786 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on EXP. Loop Capital upgraded Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Monday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $238.00 to $273.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $250.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $170.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $263.50.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of Eagle Materials stock opened at $258.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.22 and a beta of 1.34. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $255.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $215.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 1-year low of $145.03 and a 1-year high of $272.72.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eagle Materials news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 638 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $235.07, for a total value of $149,974.66. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 14,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,383,362.51. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Matt Newby sold 2,940 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total transaction of $738,381.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,819 shares in the company, valued at $5,479,841.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Tony Thompson sold 638 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $235.07, for a total transaction of $149,974.66. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,383,362.51. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 6,925 shares of company stock worth $1,693,376 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials 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.