Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Shares Sold by Loomis Sayles & Co. L P

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P decreased its position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,782 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 1,187 shares during the quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 0.24% of Eagle Materials worth $19,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,801,532 shares of the construction company's stock worth $444,546,000 after acquiring an additional 66,399 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Eagle Materials by 3.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 707,607 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $203,585,000 after purchasing an additional 23,911 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.7% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 349,756 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $100,607,000 after buying an additional 9,216 shares in the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 322,384 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $79,551,000 after buying an additional 2,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in Eagle Materials by 16.2% in the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 270,711 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $66,801,000 after acquiring an additional 37,689 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Citigroup cut Eagle Materials from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $334.00 to $280.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Stephens reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $310.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $330.00 to $310.00 in a report on Monday, December 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Eagle Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $242.00 target price on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $279.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

In related news, Director Michael R. Nicolais acquired 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $257.36 per share, with a total value of $79,781.60. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 3,655 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $940,650.80. This represents a 9.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EXP traded up $6.38 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $233.86. 149,413 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 318,548. The stock has a market cap of $7.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.72 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.44 and a twelve month high of $321.93. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $235.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $264.88. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.97 by ($0.38). Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 20.91%. On average, research 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, 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 0.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials's payout ratio is 7.14%.

Eagle Materials Company 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.