Aviva PLC Buys 1,227 Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Aviva PLC grew its stake in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 139.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,105 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,227 shares during the quarter. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in EXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Eagle Materials by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,801,532 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $444,546,000 after purchasing an additional 66,399 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 722,995 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $178,450,000 after buying an additional 15,388 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Eagle Materials in the fourth quarter worth approximately $93,672,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC grew 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 valued at $79,551,000 after buying an additional 2,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 16.2% during the fourth 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. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on EXP shares. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price objective on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Eagle Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $242.00 price objective on the stock. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $245.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $279.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

In other Eagle Materials news, Director Michael R. Nicolais acquired 310 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $257.36 per share, for a total transaction of $79,781.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $940,650.80. The trade was a 9.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of Eagle Materials stock opened at $223.27 on Friday. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 1-year low of $201.61 and a 1-year high of $321.93. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $227.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.43 billion, a PE ratio of 15.95 and a beta of 1.25.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 20.91% and a return on equity of 34.14%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.14%.

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.