California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 5,577 Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 8.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,472 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 5,577 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $14,675,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of EXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings 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 valued at $444,546,000 after purchasing an additional 66,399 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 707,607 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $203,585,000 after buying an additional 23,911 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the fourth quarter worth $93,672,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 322,384 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $79,551,000 after buying an additional 2,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 16.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

Shares of Eagle Materials stock opened at $217.54 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $233.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $264.01. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 1-year low of $205.44 and a 1-year high of $321.93. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 1.37.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael R. Nicolais purchased 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $257.36 per share, for a total transaction of $79,781.60. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 3,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $940,650.80. The trade was a 9.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on EXP. DA Davidson lowered their target price on Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $242.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stephens reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $279.40.

Eagle Materials 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.