Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Has $1.29 Million Position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,243 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 207 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $1,294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in 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. increased 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 buying an additional 652,836 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 buying an additional 23,911 shares during the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA increased 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 buying an additional 158,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased 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 buying an additional 9,216 shares during the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EXP. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $242.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Loop Capital downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, November 25th. Citigroup downgraded shares of 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 research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 27th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.40.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

NYSE EXP opened at $213.84 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66. The company has a market capitalization of $7.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.27 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.44 and a 12-month high of $321.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $244.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $268.92.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.97 by ($0.38). Eagle Materials had a net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 34.14%. Analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

In other news, Director Michael R. Nicolais bought 310 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $257.36 per share, for a total transaction of $79,781.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $940,650.80. This represents a 9.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

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.