William Blair Investment Management LLC Invests $129.76 Million in Eagle Materials Inc $EXP

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 576,712 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $129,760,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec increased its holdings in Eagle Materials by 3.6% during the third quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,426 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 2,406 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 9.0% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,015 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,294 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $245,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,871 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $354,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

Shares of EXP stock opened at $207.15 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.38 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 3.23. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $213.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.15. Eagle Materials Inc has a 52 week low of $171.99 and a 52 week high of $245.53.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The construction company reported $3.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.37 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $650.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $620.35 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 17.32% and a return on equity of 26.87%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.76 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Eagle Materials Inc will post 12.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Investors of record on Monday, September 14th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.91%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on EXP. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Tuesday, June 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen raised Eagle Materials from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Eagle Materials from $240.00 to $232.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Eagle Materials from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.56.

Eagle Materials Company Profile

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) is a Dallas, Texas–based manufacturer of building materials serving construction and heavy industry markets across the United States. The company’s primary products include portland and masonry cements, gypsum wallboard, lightweight aggregate, paperboard packaging, and roofing granules. These product lines support a wide range of end uses—from residential and commercial buildings to infrastructure projects and industrial applications.

Since its spin-off from a major homebuilding company in 2004, Eagle Materials has grown through targeted facility expansions and strategic acquisitions.