Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. (NYSE:CPAC) Short Interest Up 90.3% in April

Key Points

• Short interest rose 90.3% in April to 19,124 shares, leaving a days-to-cover ratio of about 0.3 days on average daily volume.
• Analysts have leaned negative with a MarketBeat consensus rating of "Reduce" and a $12.90 target, though JPMorgan recently moved the stock to "Neutral" and raised its target to $13.00.
• Cementos Pacasmayo missed EPS (‑$0.06 vs. $0.05 expected) but topped revenue estimates, and the stock trades around $10.79 within a 52-week range of $5.20–$11.50 (market cap ≈ $915M).

Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. (NYSE:CPAC - Get Free Report) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 19,124 shares, an increase of 90.3% from the March 31st total of 10,052 shares. Currently, 0.0% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 72,753 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 0.3 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on CPAC shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Zacks Research cut shares of Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. from an "underweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $7.50 to $13.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus target price of $12.90.

Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. Stock Performance

NYSE:CPAC opened at $10.79 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. has a fifty-two week low of $5.20 and a fifty-two week high of $11.50. The stock has a market cap of $914.67 million, a PE ratio of 22.02 and a beta of 0.74. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $10.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.39.

Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. (NYSE:CPAC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 13th. The construction company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $179.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $174.95 million. Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. had a net margin of 7.11% and a return on equity of 11.85%. Analysts expect that Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. will post 0.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A.

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CPAC. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 30,110 shares of the construction company's stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 1,900 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. in the 3rd quarter worth about $522,000. LPL Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. in the 4th quarter worth about $155,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 91,754 shares of the construction company's stock worth $958,000 after buying an additional 6,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A. in the 4th quarter worth about $167,000.

About Cementos Pacasmayo S.A.A.

Cementos Pacasmayo SAA. is a Peru‐based cement and construction materials company engaged in the production, distribution and sale of cement and related products. The company’s core activities include manufacturing ordinary portland cement, hydrated lime and other industrial minerals. It serves the building and infrastructure sectors, offering tailored solutions for public works, residential and commercial construction projects.

Founded in 1949 in the coastal city of Pacasmayo, the company has grown into one of Peru’s leading cement producers.

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