Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 11,089,340 shares, a growth of 57.8% from the March 15th total of 7,028,233 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 6,953,228 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Cemex Price Performance

Shares of Cemex stock traded up $0.06 on Wednesday, hitting $11.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,955,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,834,691. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $17.21 billion, a PE ratio of 18.01 and a beta of 1.60. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.14. Cemex has a 52 week low of $5.12 and a 52 week high of $13.35.

Cemex (NYSE:CX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The construction company reported ($0.19) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.38). Cemex had a return on equity of 2.85% and a net margin of 5.93%.The firm had revenue of $4.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Research analysts expect that Cemex will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cemex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a $0.0225 dividend. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. This is a positive change from Cemex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Cemex’s payout ratio is currently 13.64%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cemex

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in Cemex by 1.8% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 96,734,370 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $869,642,000 after purchasing an additional 1,710,535 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Cemex by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 36,132,733 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $415,165,000 after buying an additional 1,225,219 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its holdings in shares of Cemex by 406.2% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 26,348,884 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $302,749,000 after buying an additional 21,143,554 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Cemex by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,191,754 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $243,494,000 after buying an additional 2,182,666 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Cemex by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,737,871 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $215,298,000 after buying an additional 1,840,515 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank increased their price target on Cemex from $13.90 to $14.10 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cemex in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Cemex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $14.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cemex in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, HSBC cut shares of Cemex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $12.80 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Cemex currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.83.

About Cemex

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.