Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Reduces Holdings in Eagle Materials Inc $EXP

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. reduced its position in Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) by 10.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 281,600 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 32,190 shares during the quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $53,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambiar Investors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Eagle Materials in the fourth quarter worth about $1,321,000. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. grew its stake in Eagle Materials by 1,671.4% during the 4th quarter. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. now owns 12,400 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,563,000 after acquiring an additional 11,700 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Eagle Materials by 743.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 34,317 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $7,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,250 shares in the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC raised its holdings in Eagle Materials by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC now owns 99,319 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $23,145,000 after acquiring an additional 13,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Eagle Materials by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 121,599 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,337,000 after acquiring an additional 28,262 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Stock Up 0.1%

Eagle Materials stock opened at $224.86 on Monday. Eagle Materials Inc has a fifty-two week low of $171.99 and a fifty-two week high of $243.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a current ratio of 3.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $208.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $211.47. The company has a market capitalization of $6.95 billion, a PE ratio of 17.14 and a beta of 1.37.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The construction company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.32. Eagle Materials had a return on equity of 28.27% and a net margin of 18.36%.The company had revenue of $479.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.99 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Eagle Materials Inc will post 13.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is presently 7.62%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on EXP. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Eagle Materials from $240.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a report on Tuesday, June 16th. Zacks Research raised Eagle Materials from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Stephens reduced their price objective on Eagle Materials from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Eagle Materials from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $224.30.

About Eagle Materials

Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP) is a Dallas, Texas–based manufacturer of building materials serving construction and heavy industry markets across the United States. The company’s primary products include portland and masonry cements, gypsum wallboard, lightweight aggregate, paperboard packaging, and roofing granules. These product lines support a wide range of end uses—from residential and commercial buildings to infrastructure projects and industrial applications.

Since its spin-off from a major homebuilding company in 2004, Eagle Materials has grown through targeted facility expansions and strategic acquisitions.