California Public Employees Retirement System Trims Holdings in Eagle Materials Inc $EXP

Key Points

• CalPERS reduced its stake in Eagle Materials by 29.7% in the first quarter, selling 18,784 shares and leaving it with 44,388 shares valued at about $8.4 million.
• Analyst sentiment is mostly neutral, with the stock carrying a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226. JPMorgan upgraded the stock to neutral, while several other firms reiterated hold-like views.
• Eagle Materials posted solid quarterly results, beating earnings and revenue estimates with EPS of $1.91 versus $1.59 expected and revenue of $479.1 million. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, equal to a 0.5% annualized yield.

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP - Free Report) by 29.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,388 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 18,784 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned 0.14% of Eagle Materials worth $8,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Eagle Materials by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. John G Ullman & Associates Inc. now owns 29,296 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,550,000 after buying an additional 966 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 10.3% during the first quarter. Hamilton Point Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,647 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $5,814,000 after buying an additional 2,851 shares during the period. Bastion Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 23.0% in the first quarter. Bastion Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,116 shares of the construction company's stock worth $3,770,000 after buying an additional 3,766 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 5,116.3% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 25,612 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,852,000 after buying an additional 25,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Trust boosted its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 15.2% in the first quarter. American Trust now owns 1,625 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on EXP. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Eagle Materials from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Eagle Materials in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $208.00 to $219.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Eagle Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Eagle Materials in a research report on Tuesday, June 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $226.00.

Eagle Materials Stock Up 3.0%

EXP stock opened at $213.34 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.66, a quick ratio of 2.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company's 50 day moving average is $213.86 and its 200 day moving average is $211.04. The stock has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26 and a beta of 1.37. Eagle Materials Inc has a 1-year low of $171.99 and a 1-year high of $245.53.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The construction company reported $1.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.32. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 28.27%. The business had revenue of $479.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $451.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.00 earnings per share. Eagle Materials's revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Eagle Materials Inc will post 12.9 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Eagle Materials Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 20th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Eagle Materials's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.62%.

Eagle Materials Company Profile

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.

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