Arete Wealth Advisors LLC Takes Position in Owens Corning Inc $OC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 4,201 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC raised its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 0.6% during the first quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 13,043 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,863,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Menard Financial Group LLC now owns 2,272 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $387,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 13.1% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 733 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $125,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 9.8% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,000 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $143,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Archer Investment Corp raised its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 17.9% during the first quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 660 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 88.40% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on OC shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $167.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Owens Corning presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $184.60.

Owens Corning Price Performance

NYSE OC opened at $149.34 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $146.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $142.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Owens Corning Inc has a 12-month low of $123.40 and a 12-month high of $214.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.79, a P/E/G ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 1.32.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.41. Owens Corning had a net margin of 2.98% and a return on equity of 24.49%. The business had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.64 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Owens Corning Inc will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Owens Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Owens Corning’s payout ratio is currently 71.69%.

Owens Corning announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 14th that authorizes the company to buyback 12,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

About Owens Corning

Owens Corning manufactures and sells building and construction materials in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Roofing, Insulation, and Composites. The Roofing segment manufactures and sells laminate and strip asphalt roofing shingles, oxidized asphalt materials, and roofing components used in residential and commercial construction, and specialty applications.