CEMEX (NYSE:CX) Raised to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CEMEX (NYSE:CX - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday.

CX has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on CEMEX from $5.00 to $5.25 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of CEMEX from $6.00 to $6.80 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of CEMEX from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Bradesco Corretora set a $7.50 price target on CEMEX and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $7.58.

CEMEX Stock Up 0.3 %

CX stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $6.44. 824,314 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,952,652. The stock has a market cap of $9.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.22 and a beta of 1.41. The firm's 50 day moving average is $5.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $5.79. CEMEX has a 1 year low of $4.89 and a 1 year high of $8.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.58.

CEMEX (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The construction company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $186.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.59 million. CEMEX had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 5.70%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that CEMEX will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. CEMEX's payout ratio is 8.33%.

Institutional Trading of CEMEX

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. increased its position in CEMEX by 22.6% in the first quarter. Ramirez Asset Management Inc. now owns 980,740 shares of the construction company's stock worth $5,502,000 after purchasing an additional 180,823 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of CEMEX in the 1st quarter worth about $4,159,000. Oldfield Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of CEMEX during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,971,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 37,391 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $210,000 after acquiring an additional 5,739 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookwood Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in CEMEX in the first quarter worth about $133,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.