CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Short Interest Update

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,930,000 shares, a decline of 17.1% from the February 28th total of 21,640,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 10,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

CEMEX Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CX traded down $0.13 on Thursday, reaching $5.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 19,846,446 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,799,056. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $6.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.89. CEMEX has a 52-week low of $5.00 and a 52-week high of $9.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.85 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

CEMEX (NYSE:CX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The construction company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.06. CEMEX had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 7.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that CEMEX will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

CEMEX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. CEMEX’s payout ratio is 12.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CEMEX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of CEMEX by 7,200.6% in the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 49,622,009 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $279,868,000 after purchasing an additional 48,942,309 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in CEMEX by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 40,745,819 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $229,806,000 after acquiring an additional 9,541,622 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 36,836,513 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $207,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,293 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of CEMEX by 745.6% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 26,739,107 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $150,809,000 after purchasing an additional 23,576,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its holdings in CEMEX by 33.7% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 24,233,835 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $136,679,000 after buying an additional 6,110,857 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on CX shares. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of CEMEX from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of CEMEX from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CEMEX presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.82.

CEMEX Company Profile

CEMEX, SAB. de C.V., together with its subsidiaries, produces, markets, distributes, and sells cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, urbanization solutions, and other construction materials and services worldwide. The company offers gray ordinary portland, white portland, oil-well, and blended cement products; mortar; and standard ready-mix, architectural and decorative, rapid-setting, fiber-reinforced, fluid-fill, roller-compacted, self-consolidating, pervious, and antibacterial, and other concrete products.