Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) Stock Rating Cut to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Zacks Research lowered shares of Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) from a strong-buy rating to a strong sell rating in a report released on Monday morning,Zacks reports.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on OC. Melius Research started coverage on shares of Owens Corning in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $118.00 target price for the company. Vertical Research downgraded shares of Owens Corning from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $106.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $136.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $172.00 to $150.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $169.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $143.36.

Owens Corning Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:OC opened at $112.92 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10. Owens Corning has a 12-month low of $97.53 and a 12-month high of $159.91. The business has a 50 day moving average of $134.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.20. The company has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a PE ratio of -14.01, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.32.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The construction company reported $3.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.66 billion. Owens Corning had a positive return on equity of 20.52% and a negative net margin of 6.81%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.21 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Owens Corning will post 9.45 EPS for the current year.

Owens Corning Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 5th. Stockholders of record on Monday, October 19th will be paid a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, October 19th. This represents a $3.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.8%. Owens Corning’s dividend payout ratio is -39.21%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Owens Corning

In other news, insider Rachel Barthelemy Marcon sold 900 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.07, for a total transaction of $129,663.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 21,449 shares in the company, valued at $3,090,157.43. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OC. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Owens Corning during the second quarter worth about $1,401,161,000. Nykredit A S purchased a new stake in Owens Corning during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $166,083,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Owens Corning by 721.9% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,170,179 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $125,513,000 after acquiring an additional 1,027,800 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Owens Corning during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $133,685,000. Finally, Sound Shore Management Inc. CT acquired a new stake in Owens Corning during the 1st quarter worth approximately $64,102,000. 88.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Owens Corning

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) is a global building materials company that develops and manufactures products used in residential, commercial and industrial construction. Its portfolio includes insulation, roofing and composite materials designed to improve energy efficiency, weather protection, durability and structural performance.

The company’s insulation business offers products such as fiberglass and mineral wool insulation, along with related air-sealing and acoustic solutions. Its roofing operations produce shingles, underlayment and other components for residential and commercial roofing systems.