Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Has $21.48 Million Stock Holdings in Eagle Materials Inc $EXP

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) by 85.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 106,258 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 49,112 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $21,476,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 1.9% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 13,023 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,890,000 after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Eagle Materials by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 466 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in Eagle Materials by 15.4% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $320,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the last quarter. Transce3nd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 9.7% in the first quarter. Transce3nd LLC now owns 552 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $122,000 after buying an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Harvest LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the first quarter worth about $14,482,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EXP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target on Eagle Materials from $255.00 to $233.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $226.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $246.00 price target on Eagle Materials in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Eagle Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $245.00 to $230.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $243.30.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

Shares of EXP stock opened at $202.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $6.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88 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. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $227.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.03.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The construction company reported $4.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.35 by ($0.12). The company had revenue of $638.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.55 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 19.81% and a return on equity of 31.21%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.31 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Eagle Materials Inc will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David E. Rush purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $208.08 per share, with a total value of $208,080.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 4,173 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $868,317.84. This represents a 31.52% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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, 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.