Magnolia Group LLC Buys New Stake in Eagle Materials Inc $EXP

Magnolia Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm purchased 25,743 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,403,000. Eagle Materials accounts for about 1.5% of Magnolia Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of EXP. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at $47,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 23.9% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 519 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 131.0% in the second quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 432 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. increased its position in Eagle Materials by 54.4% during the third quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 596 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Eagle Materials by 46.9% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 623 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 199 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of Eagle Materials stock opened at $184.40 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.23. The company has a current ratio of 3.29, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.13. Eagle Materials Inc has a 1-year low of $160.02 and a 1-year high of $245.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.30 and a beta of 1.29.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The construction company reported $3.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.82 by ($0.19). Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 25.16% and a net margin of 16.11%. The firm had revenue of $652.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $633.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.23 earnings per share. Eagle Materials’s quarterly revenue was up 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Eagle Materials Inc will post 11.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 14th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 14th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is currently 8.30%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on EXP shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Eagle Materials from $232.00 to $207.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Wall Street Zen cut Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Friday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Eagle Materials from $225.00 to $200.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Eagle Materials from $190.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, November 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $193.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eagle Materials news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 3,074 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $203.96, for a total transaction of $626,973.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 10,142 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,562.32. This represents a 23.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eagle Materials Profile

Eagle Materials Inc. is a U.S.-based producer of building materials used in residential, commercial and infrastructure construction. Its products include cement, ready-mixed concrete, aggregates, gypsum wallboard and recycled paperboard. The company operates through businesses focused on cement and concrete products, gypsum wallboard, and paperboard. Its gypsum operations also produce materials used in wallboard finishing, while its paperboard business makes recycled paperboard used in packaging and other applications.