Cemex (NYSE:CX) Reaches New 1-Year High on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Cemex's stock reached a new 52-week high after Bank of America upgraded its rating from neutral to buy, increasing the price target from $10.00 to $10.80.
• Institutional investments in Cemex have risen, with Dodge & Cox increasing its holdings by 35.1%, underscoring strong institutional interest with 82.97% of shares now owned by institutional investors.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.0224 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.9% and a payout ratio of 8.82%.

Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report)'s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. Bank of America now has a $10.80 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $10.00. Cemex traded as high as $9.76 and last traded at $9.86, with a volume of 57528 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.55.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Cemex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. Citigroup lowered Cemex from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Monday. Barclays lifted their price objective on Cemex from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Cemex in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cemex in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.24.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CX. Dodge & Cox lifted its holdings in Cemex by 35.1% in the second quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 95,023,835 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $658,515,000 after acquiring an additional 24,703,035 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in Cemex by 7.7% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 32,648,163 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $226,252,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337,817 shares during the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its position in Cemex by 90.2% in the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 26,300,519 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $182,263,000 after purchasing an additional 12,469,417 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd raised its position in Cemex by 0.7% in the third quarter. Perpetual Ltd now owns 9,201,553 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $82,722,000 after purchasing an additional 61,633 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Cemex by 58.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,187,143 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $40,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,661,030 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cemex Stock Up 3.1%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $9.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 0.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The firm has a market cap of $14.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.51.

Cemex (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The construction company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $4.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. Cemex had a return on equity of 6.89% and a net margin of 9.61%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Cemex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 25th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.0224 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, September 17th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Cemex's dividend payout ratio is 8.82%.

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.

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