Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Purchases 10,166 Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 28.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,354 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,166 shares during the quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $9,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in Eagle Materials by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 95 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tompkins Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Eagle Materials in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in Eagle Materials by 132.7% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 114 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXP has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Stephens boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $289.78.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director George John Damiris sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.62, for a total transaction of $277,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,205,135.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Eric Cribbs sold 1,851 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.06, for a total value of $512,838.06. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 13,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,861,385.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director George John Damiris sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.62, for a total value of $277,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 7,943 shares in the company, valued at $2,205,135.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,851 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,258 over the last 90 days. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Eagle Materials Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE:EXP opened at $287.67 on Friday. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 52-week low of $145.03 and a 52-week high of $293.00. The company has a fifty day moving average of $251.73 and a 200-day moving average of $247.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 2.45. The company has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12 and a beta of 1.32.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The construction company reported $3.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.57 by $0.37. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 37.10% and a net margin of 21.65%. The company had revenue of $608.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $622.06 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 15.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.34%.

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, 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.