Meritage Portfolio Management Has $458,000 Stock Position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Meritage Portfolio Management increased its stake in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,259 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the quarter. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in EXP. Larson Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. BluePath Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Eagle Materials during the third quarter worth $31,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 277.4% in the third quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 200 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Planned Solutions Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eagle Materials in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials during the 3rd quarter worth about $53,000. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

EXP stock traded up $2.45 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $256.38. The stock had a trading volume of 76,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,577. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $255.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $213.95. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 52 week low of $143.95 and a 52 week high of $272.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.92 and a beta of 1.34.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 25th. The construction company reported $3.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by $0.16. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 40.05%. The business had revenue of $558.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $537.23 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.23 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.06%.

Insider Transactions at Eagle Materials

In related news, EVP Matt Newby sold 2,940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $738,381.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 21,819 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,479,841.85. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Eagle Materials news, EVP Matt Newby sold 2,940 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.15, for a total value of $738,381.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 21,819 shares in the company, valued at $5,479,841.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David B. Powers sold 3,347 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.52, for a total value of $805,020.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $157,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 10,090 shares of company stock valued at $2,401,577. Corporate insiders own 1.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXP has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $320.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com lowered Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Loop Capital upgraded Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $170.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Eagle Materials from $244.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $263.50.

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; 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.