Wells Fargo & Company MN Reduces Holdings in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Wells Fargo & Company MN decreased its position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 31.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,376 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 59,901 shares during the period. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned 0.40% of Eagle Materials worth $32,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXP. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 50.0% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 2,887 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $828,000 after acquiring an additional 962 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Eagle Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $230,000. EP Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Eagle Materials during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $236,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,872 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 78.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 37,948 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $10,915,000 after acquiring an additional 16,645 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup cut shares of 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 report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $242.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $310.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $279.40.

Eagle Materials Trading Down 3.7 %

Eagle Materials stock opened at $216.77 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.61 and a 12 month high of $321.93. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $228.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.04. The firm has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a PE ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.25.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.38). Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 20.91%. Analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.14%.

Insider Activity at Eagle Materials

In related news, Director Michael R. Nicolais bought 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $257.36 per share, with a total value of $79,781.60. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $940,650.80. The trade was a 9.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.