Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Eagle Materials Inc $EXP

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group slightly trimmed its Eagle Materials stake in Q1, selling 4,872 shares and ending with 408,989 shares valued at about $77.5 million.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with hedge funds and other investors controlling about 96.07% of Eagle Materials’ stock, and several firms either increased or adjusted their positions during the quarter.
• Eagle Materials reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.91 versus estimates of $1.59 and revenue of $479.11 million, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share.

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Eagle Materials Inc (NYSE:EXP - Free Report) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 408,989 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 4,872 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.30% of Eagle Materials worth $77,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in Eagle Materials by 5,116.3% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 25,612 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,852,000 after acquiring an additional 25,121 shares during the period. American Trust lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 15.2% during the 1st quarter. American Trust now owns 1,625 shares of the construction company's stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Eagle Materials by 9.5% during the 1st quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 149,005 shares of the construction company's stock worth $28,229,000 after purchasing an additional 12,895 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 3.6% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 42,345 shares of the construction company's stock worth $7,862,000 after purchasing an additional 1,468 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 9.9% during the first quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 83,822 shares of the construction company's stock worth $15,562,000 after purchasing an additional 7,585 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

EXP has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stephens decreased their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $235.00 to $225.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Eagle Materials from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Zacks Research raised Eagle Materials from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 1st. Citigroup boosted their price target on Eagle Materials from $217.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Eagle Materials from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $225.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Eagle Materials presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $226.00.

Eagle Materials Stock Performance

Shares of EXP stock opened at $213.78 on Friday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $213.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $211.20. Eagle Materials Inc has a 52 week low of $171.99 and a 52 week high of $245.53. 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 has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a PE ratio of 16.29 and a beta of 1.37.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 19th. The construction company reported $1.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.32. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 18.36% and a return on equity of 28.27%. The firm had revenue of $479.11 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $451.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.00 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Eagle Materials Inc will post 13.02 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Eagle Materials's payout ratio is currently 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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