Federated Hermes Inc. Increases Stock Position in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Federated Hermes Inc. increased its position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 10.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 594,899 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 55,578 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. owned about 1.79% of Eagle Materials worth $146,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,801,532 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $444,546,000 after acquiring an additional 66,399 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Eagle Materials by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 722,995 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $178,450,000 after purchasing an additional 15,388 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Eagle Materials during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $93,672,000. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 322,384 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $79,551,000 after purchasing an additional 2,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP boosted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 16.2% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 270,711 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $66,801,000 after buying an additional 37,689 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Eagle Materials Stock Down 4.9 %

Shares of Eagle Materials stock opened at $217.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.54 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials Inc. has a twelve month low of $205.44 and a twelve 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $233.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $263.89.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last issued its 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 return on equity of 34.14% and a net margin of 20.91%. Equities research analysts forecast that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 14th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Eagle Materials’s payout ratio is 7.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Eagle Materials news, Director Michael R. Nicolais acquired 310 shares of Eagle Materials stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $257.36 per share, for a total transaction of $79,781.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 3,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $940,650.80. This represents a 9.27 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on EXP shares. Citigroup lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $334.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $330.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Stephens reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. 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 report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Eagle Materials in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. They set a “hold” rating and a $242.00 target price on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.