Markel Group Inc. Acquires 5,500 Shares of Eagle Materials Inc $EXP

Markel Group Inc. increased its holdings in Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) by 157.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 9,000 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the quarter. Markel Group Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $1,819,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,140,621 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $475,068,000 after acquiring an additional 339,089 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA increased its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 42.5% in the 1st quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 909,633 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $201,875,000 after acquiring an additional 271,410 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in Eagle Materials by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 734,541 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $153,607,000 after purchasing an additional 28,559 shares during the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its position in Eagle Materials by 57.2% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 611,745 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $123,640,000 after purchasing an additional 222,537 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Eagle Materials by 10.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 576,249 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $127,876,000 after purchasing an additional 54,324 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE EXP opened at $230.58 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $233.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $222.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The company has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a PE ratio of 16.98 and a beta of 1.31. Eagle Materials Inc has a 52-week low of $191.91 and a 52-week high of $321.93.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $3.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.73 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $634.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $611.52 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 19.81% and a return on equity of 31.21%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc will post 14.39 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 15th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on EXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $220.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $246.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Eagle Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Eagle Materials to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $255.90.

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.