CEMEX (NYSE:CX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CEMEX (NYSE:CX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on CX. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of CEMEX from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Bradesco Corretora set a $7.50 target price on CEMEX and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on CEMEX from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, CEMEX presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.63.

CEMEX Trading Up 3.9 %

CEMEX stock opened at $5.41 on Wednesday. CEMEX has a 12-month low of $4.89 and a 12-month high of $8.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a PE ratio of 8.58 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $5.80. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The construction company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.06. CEMEX had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 5.70%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CEMEX will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. CEMEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 12.70%.

Institutional Trading of CEMEX

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CX. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 30.4% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 100,406 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $612,000 after buying an additional 23,388 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its position in CEMEX by 39.9% in the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 15,087 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $92,000 after acquiring an additional 4,306 shares in the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC increased its stake in shares of CEMEX by 65.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 20,706 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $126,000 after purchasing an additional 8,221 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of CEMEX by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,249 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in CEMEX by 46.5% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 52,237 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 16,585 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.