Farringdon Capital Ltd. Takes Position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. bought a new position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 1,329 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $328,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sprott Inc. grew its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 1,695 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Eagle Materials by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,086 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Eagle Materials by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 569 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Eagle Materials by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 920 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Eagle Materials by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 676 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $167,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eagle Materials news, Director Michael R. Nicolais bought 310 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $257.36 per share, with a total value of $79,781.60. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 3,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $940,650.80. This trade 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $242.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lowered Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $279.40.

Eagle Materials Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE EXP opened at $216.78 on Friday. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 12 month low of $201.61 and a 12 month 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $223.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $258.54. The stock has a market cap of $7.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.48 and a beta of 1.25.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 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 forecast that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 14th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.14%.

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.