Bank of America Upgrades Ternium (NYSE:TX) to Buy

Key Points

• Bank of America upgraded Ternium (NYSE:TX) from "neutral" to "buy" with a $46 price target
• Analyst sentiment is mixed overall — MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of "Hold" with a consensus price target of $39.36, based on 1 Strong Buy, 3 Buy, 4 Hold and 1 Sell recommendations.
• Ternium's most recent quarter missed estimates, reporting EPS $0.62 vs. $0.77 expected and revenue of $3.77B vs. $3.81B, with low profitability metrics (net margin ~2.7%, ROE ~3.1%).

Ternium (NYSE:TX - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Bank of America from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Finviz reports. The firm currently has a $46.00 price objective on the basic materials company's stock. Bank of America's target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.97% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on TX. UBS Group increased their target price on Ternium from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings raised Ternium from a "hold (c)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Ternium in a research report on Thursday, March 26th. Zacks Research lowered Ternium from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Ternium from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ternium presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $39.36.

Ternium Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:TX opened at $41.83 on Monday. Ternium has a 52-week low of $25.43 and a 52-week high of $45.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37 and a beta of 1.27. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $39.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.45 and a current ratio of 2.49.

Ternium (NYSE:TX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.77 by ($0.15). Ternium had a return on equity of 3.06% and a net margin of 2.72%.The firm had revenue of $3.77 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.81 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.42) EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ternium will post 4.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ternium

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Ternium by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 95,129 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,633,000 after purchasing an additional 8,630 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in Ternium during the 4th quarter valued at $331,000. Numerai GP LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ternium by 206.4% in the 4th quarter. Numerai GP LLC now owns 40,743 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,556,000 after buying an additional 27,447 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ternium by 386.4% in the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 76,026 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,903,000 after acquiring an additional 60,397 shares during the period. Finally, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its position in Ternium by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 11,220 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $430,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. 11.98% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ternium Company Profile

Ternium SA NYSE: TX is a leading vertically integrated steel producer with operations across the Americas. The company manufactures a broad range of flat and long steel products, including hot‐rolled and cold‐rolled coils, galvanized and tin-coated sheets, plates, rebars, wire rods, bars and structural sections. These products serve diverse end markets such as automotive, construction, energy, industrial machinery, home appliances and packaging.

Established in 2005 through the consolidation of steel assets in Argentina and Mexico, Ternium has grown to operate major production facilities in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Central America and the United States.

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