Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Eagle Materials Inc. (NYSE:EXP) by 789.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 703 shares of the construction company’s stock after buying an additional 624 shares during the period. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd’s holdings in Eagle Materials were worth $202,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Eagle Materials by 25.2% in the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 805,257 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $175,111,000 after purchasing an additional 162,049 shares in the last quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Eagle Materials by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. William Blair Investment Management LLC now owns 595,276 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $129,449,000 after purchasing an additional 28,003 shares during the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 33.4% in the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 529,701 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $115,189,000 after buying an additional 132,677 shares in the last quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA lifted its stake in Eagle Materials by 30.6% in the 2nd quarter. Baupost Group LLC MA now owns 342,102 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $74,394,000 after buying an additional 80,102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in Eagle Materials by 24.0% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 293,730 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $84,491,000 after buying an additional 56,900 shares in the last quarter. 96.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Eagle Materials Price Performance

EXP opened at $305.93 on Thursday. Eagle Materials Inc. has a 1 year low of $177.67 and a 1 year high of $321.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.34. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $295.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $259.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.26 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61 and a beta of 1.32.

Eagle Materials (NYSE:EXP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The construction company reported $4.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $4.75 by ($0.44). The company had revenue of $623.62 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $651.46 million. Eagle Materials had a net margin of 21.32% and a return on equity of 35.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Eagle Materials Inc. will post 15.24 EPS for the current year.

Eagle Materials Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Eagle Materials’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.06%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Tony Thompson sold 1,401 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.00, for a total value of $439,914.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,148,568. This trade represents a 9.59 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director George John Damiris sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $277.62, for a total transaction of $277,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,205,135.66. This represents a 11.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,866 shares of company stock valued at $5,482,931 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EXP has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Eagle Materials from $290.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Loop Capital lowered shares of Eagle Materials from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $315.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Eagle Materials from $252.00 to $311.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Eagle Materials from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Eagle Materials from $277.00 to $317.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $307.11.

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, 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.