Merit Financial Group LLC Buys 7,091 Shares of Owens Corning Inc $OC

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC) by 145.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,958 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,091 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Owens Corning were worth $1,901,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pitcairn Co. lifted its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 4.6% in the second quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,821 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. First Pacific Financial boosted its holdings in shares of Owens Corning by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. First Pacific Financial now owns 3,749 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $406,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Viawealth LLC raised its holdings in Owens Corning by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Viawealth LLC now owns 2,563 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Owens Corning by 2.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,170 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Owens Corning by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Basecamp Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,317 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 97 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on OC. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Owens Corning from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Owens Corning from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Owens Corning from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays increased their target price on Owens Corning from $170.00 to $177.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup raised their target price on Owens Corning from $149.00 to $177.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.25.

Owens Corning Price Performance

Shares of Owens Corning stock opened at $155.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.67. Owens Corning Inc has a fifty-two week low of $97.53 and a fifty-two week high of $159.91. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $138.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $125.84. The company has a market cap of $12.29 billion, a PE ratio of -19.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.32.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The construction company reported $3.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.09 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Owens Corning had a negative net margin of 6.81% and a positive return on equity of 20.52%. The business’s revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.21 EPS. Analysts expect that Owens Corning Inc will post 9.65 EPS for the current year.

Owens Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 6th. Investors of record on Monday, July 20th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 20th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.0%. Owens Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -39.21%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Rachel Barthelemy Marcon sold 700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.71, for a total transaction of $84,497.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,848 shares in the company, valued at $1,913,012.08. The trade was a 4.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Owens Corning

Owens Corning is a global leader in composite materials and building products, with a primary focus on insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composites. The company serves professional contractors, builders and industrial manufacturers by providing solutions designed to improve energy efficiency, structural performance and durability. Its products are used in residential, commercial, and industrial applications worldwide.

The company’s core product lines include fiberglass insulation for thermal and acoustic comfort, roofing shingles and underlayment systems engineered for weather protection, and advanced composite materials for markets such as wind energy, automotive, marine and infrastructure.