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

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Owens Corning to “strong sell” from “strong buy,” while broader analyst sentiment remains mixed with a consensus “hold” rating and an average price target of $143.36.
• Owens Corning shares opened at $112.92, well below their 52-week high of $159.91, despite the company beating quarterly earnings and revenue estimates with $3.93 in EPS and $2.76 billion in revenue.
• Institutional investors own a significant 88.40% stake in the company, while an insider recently sold 900 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on OC. Melius Research assumed coverage on Owens Corning in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $118.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Owens Corning from $149.00 to $177.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Vertical Research cut 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. Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded Owens Corning from an "outperform" rating to a "sector perform" rating and cut their price target for the company from $172.00 to $127.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 7th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $143.00 price objective on shares of Owens Corning in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $143.36.

Owens Corning Trading Up 0.3%

Owens Corning stock opened at $112.92 on Monday. Owens Corning has a 52 week low of $97.53 and a 52 week high of $159.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.10, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 1.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.01, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.32. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $134.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $129.20.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The construction company reported $3.93 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.09 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $2.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.66 billion. Owens Corning had a positive return on equity of 20.52% and a negative net margin of 6.81%. The business's revenue was up .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.21 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Owens Corning will post 9.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Owens Corning 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 directly owned 21,449 shares in the company, valued at $3,090,157.43. This trade represents a 4.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Owens Corning

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in OC. Tiptree Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Owens Corning during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,445,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Owens Corning in the 1st quarter valued at $2,576,000. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in Owens Corning in the 2nd quarter valued at $166,083,000. Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in Owens Corning in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,578,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Owens Corning in the 2nd quarter valued at $133,685,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.40% of the company's stock.

Owens Corning Company Profile

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.

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