Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) Shares Sold by Ruggaard & Associates LLC

Ruggaard & Associates LLC cut its stake in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 9.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,685 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 266 shares during the period. Ruggaard & Associates LLC’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $663,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of EXP. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Eagle Materials by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,981 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $858,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Sprott Inc. grew its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Sprott Inc. now owns 1,695 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 1,086 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Eagle Materials by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 569 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,872 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,114,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael R. Nicolais bought 310 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $257.36 per share, for a total transaction of $79,781.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 3,655 shares in the company, valued at $940,650.80. This represents a 9.27 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:EXP opened at $217.54 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $233.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $263.89. The company has a market cap of $7.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 12-month low of $205.44 and a 12-month high of $321.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 2.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The construction company reported $3.59 earnings per share 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%. Equities analysts expect that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EXP has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup cut Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Monday, January 6th. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $265.00 to $260.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Monday, December 16th. 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 for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Eagle Materials from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $279.40.

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.