AQR Capital Management LLC Trims Position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

AQR Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 13.6% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 109,745 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 17,296 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $23,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 79.2% during the first quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 95 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. YHB Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Eagle Materials in the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Tompkins Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Rise Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Materials during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 132.7% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 114 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Eagle Materials stock opened at $287.76 on Tuesday. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 12-month low of $145.03 and a 12-month high of $293.00. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $257.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $248.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a PE ratio of 21.13 and a beta of 1.32.

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

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on EXP shares. Raymond James lowered Eagle Materials from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $270.00 to $283.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $280.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $289.78.

Insider Buying and Selling at Eagle Materials

In other news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.76, for a total transaction of $1,333,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 60,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,135,778.88. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.76, for a total transaction of $1,333,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 60,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,135,778.88. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Eric Cribbs sold 1,851 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $277.06, for a total transaction of $512,838.06. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 13,937 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,861,385.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,851 shares of company stock valued at $2,124,258 in the last quarter. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.