Cemex (NYSE:CX) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Cemex has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "hold" rating by Wall Street Zen, indicating a more cautious outlook on the stock.
• The stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" with an average price target of $9.02, following various ratings adjustments from other analysts.
• Cemex’s stock opened at $9.06 with a market cap of $13.13 billion, reflecting its position within the construction materials industry amid varied institutional trading activities.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cemex (NYSE:CX - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on CX. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cemex from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Itau BBA Securities downgraded shares of Cemex from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Cemex in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Cemex from $8.60 to $10.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cemex from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their target price for the company from $8.10 to $10.50 in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Cemex has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.02.

Cemex Stock Performance

NYSE CX traded up $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $9.35. The company had a trading volume of 265,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,620,343. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a current ratio of 0.86. Cemex has a 1-year low of $4.89 and a 1-year high of $9.61. The company has a market cap of $13.54 billion, a PE ratio of 9.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50 day moving average of $8.72 and a 200-day moving average of $7.18.

Cemex (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The construction company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.05. Cemex had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 6.89%. The business had revenue of $4.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Cemex will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Cemex Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.0224 dividend. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 17th. Cemex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cemex

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Cemex by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC now owns 28,371 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $197,000 after acquiring an additional 5,753 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cemex during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,322,000. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Cemex during the 2nd quarter valued at $107,000. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cemex during the 2nd quarter valued at $383,000. Finally, FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Cemex during the 2nd quarter valued at $327,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Cemex Company Profile

CEMEX, SAB. de C.V., together with its subsidiaries, produces, markets, distributes, and sells cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, urbanization solutions, and other construction materials and services worldwide. The company offers gray ordinary portland, white portland, oil-well, and blended cement products; mortar; and standard ready-mix, architectural and decorative, rapid-setting, fiber-reinforced, fluid-fill, roller-compacted, self-consolidating, pervious, and antibacterial, and other concrete products.