Mad River Investors Decreases Stake in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Mad River Investors decreased its position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,376 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 296 shares during the quarter. Eagle Materials accounts for about 0.6% of Mad River Investors’ holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Mad River Investors’ holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $1,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXP. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in Eagle Materials by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 270,711 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $66,801,000 after purchasing an additional 37,689 shares during the last quarter. J2 Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials in the 4th quarter valued at $284,000. Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 3,407 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 476 shares during the last quarter. Burney Co. raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 53.8% during the 4th quarter. Burney Co. now owns 1,720 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covea Finance lifted its position in Eagle Materials by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Covea Finance now owns 12,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,961,000 after acquiring an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on EXP. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Citigroup downgraded Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $334.00 to $280.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $330.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $301.44.

Insider Activity at Eagle Materials

In related news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 3,577 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.30, for a total value of $1,074,173.10. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $330,330. The trade was a 76.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Tony Thompson sold 1,401 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.00, for a total transaction of $439,914.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,148,568. The trade was a 9.59 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 16,866 shares of company stock worth $5,205,311. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

Shares of EXP opened at $256.82 on Tuesday. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 1 year low of $198.89 and a 1 year high of $321.93. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $273.24 and its 200 day simple moving average is $268.15. The company has a market capitalization of $8.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.14 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.34.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $4.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.75 by ($0.44). Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 35.79% and a net margin of 21.32%. The business had revenue of $623.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $651.46 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $4.28 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 15.11 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 13th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.06%.

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.