Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 13th, there was short interest totaling 7,028,233 shares, a decrease of 28.2% from the February 26th total of 9,783,380 shares. Currently, 0.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 9,813,730 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Cemex Price Performance

NYSE CX traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $10.74. The stock had a trading volume of 5,668,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,242,945. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $11.93 and its 200 day moving average is $10.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.27 and a beta of 1.60. Cemex has a twelve month low of $4.89 and a twelve month high of $13.35.

Cemex (NYSE:CX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The construction company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $4.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Cemex had a return on equity of 2.85% and a net margin of 5.93%. Equities research analysts forecast that Cemex will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cemex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This is a boost from Cemex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Cemex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.64%.

Institutional Trading of Cemex

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Cemex by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 16,802 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Cemex by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 319,835 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Cemex by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 24,201 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,268 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Cemex by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 28,609 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Cemex by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 19,598 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 1,380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cemex in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Scotiabank raised Cemex from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $13.50 to $13.90 in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. HSBC downgraded Cemex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $12.80 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cemex in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Cemex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cemex presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.38.

Cemex Company Profile

Cemex (NYSE: CX) is a global building materials company headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico. The company produces, distributes and sells cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates, as well as related building materials, to construction markets in more than 50 countries. Cemex’s product portfolio also includes asphalt and mortar mixes, waste-derived fuels and other complementary construction solutions, supported by a network of production facilities, distribution centers and logistics operations.

Founded in 1906 as Cementos Hidalgo, the company adopted the Cemex name in 1976 following a series of domestic mergers and expansions.