Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Sells 1,732 Shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. decreased its position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 60,204 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,732 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $12,212,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Eagle Materials during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,085,000. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Eagle Materials by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 89,090 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $18,071,000 after acquiring an additional 10,514 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 4.1% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 9,081 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,512,000 after buying an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 185.6% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 3,193 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $534,000 after buying an additional 2,075 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 1.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 329,032 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $54,790,000 after buying an additional 5,609 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Eagle Materials news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.60, for a total transaction of $1,078,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,498,716. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Dale Craig Kesler sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $215.60, for a total value of $1,078,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 62,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,498,716. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David B. Powers sold 3,347 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.52, for a total value of $805,020.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,540.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 19,444 shares of company stock valued at $4,414,889 over the last quarter. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:EXP traded down $1.15 on Tuesday, hitting $248.81. The company had a trading volume of 108,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 294,267. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $254.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $210.04. The stock has a market cap of $8.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.57 and a beta of 1.34. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 1-year low of $142.12 and a 1-year high of $272.72. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 25th. The construction company reported $3.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.56 by $0.16. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 22.24% and a return on equity of 40.05%. The company had revenue of $558.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $537.23 million. Analysts expect that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 14.29 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 12th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is 7.06%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on EXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $200.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $250.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Loop Capital upgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $170.00 to $240.00 in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $244.00 to $311.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.00.

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; 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.