Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Has $9.25 Million Stock Position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lessened its stake in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP - Free Report) by 37.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,494 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 22,772 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Eagle Materials worth $9,252,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 30.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,801,257 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,093,432,000 after buying an additional 878,400 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 60.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,735,133 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $499,111,000 after acquiring an additional 652,836 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 707,607 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $203,585,000 after acquiring an additional 23,911 shares during the period. Baupost Group LLC MA raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 46.2% in the 3rd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 500,273 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $143,904,000 after acquiring an additional 158,171 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 349,756 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $100,607,000 after acquiring an additional 9,216 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company's stock.

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Insider Activity at Eagle Materials

In other news, Director Michael R. Nicolais purchased 310 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $257.36 per share, with a total value of $79,781.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 3,655 shares of the company's stock, valued at $940,650.80. This trade represents a 9.27 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 27th. Citigroup cut Eagle Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Eagle Materials in a research report on Tuesday. They set a "hold" rating and a $242.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Eagle Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $292.40.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE EXP traded down $6.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $213.84. The company had a trading volume of 690,434 shares, compared to its average volume of 351,646. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 2.76. Eagle Materials Inc. has a one year low of $205.44 and a one year high of $321.93. The firm has a market cap of $7.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 1.37. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $245.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $269.03.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.38). Eagle Materials had a net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 34.14%. On average, research analysts predict that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.14%.

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.