Cemex (NYSE:CX) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cemex (NYSE:CX) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Sunday.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CX. HSBC lowered Cemex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $12.80 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Cemex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $14.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Cemex from $13.90 to $14.10 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cemex from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cemex in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Cemex presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.77.

Cemex Stock Performance

Shares of CX opened at $12.26 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 0.63 and a current ratio of 0.87. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.31 and a beta of 1.51. Cemex has a 52 week low of $5.94 and a 52 week high of $13.35.

Cemex (NYSE:CX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The construction company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter. Cemex had a return on equity of 3.64% and a net margin of 2.74%. Equities analysts forecast that Cemex will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cemex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were issued a $0.0225 dividend. This is a boost from Cemex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. Cemex’s dividend payout ratio is currently 28.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Herrera Jesus Vicente Gonzalez sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.16, for a total value of $425,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 846,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,287,481.60. This represents a 3.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cemex

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Cemex in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Cemex by 100.0% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 3,488 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 1,744 shares in the last quarter. WealthCollab LLC grew its holdings in shares of Cemex by 73.7% in the second quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 3,724 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580 shares in the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. bought a new position in shares of Cemex in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Cemex by 256.7% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,298 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.