Cemex (NYSE:CX) Stock Rating Upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• Cemex has been upgraded to an "overweight" rating by JPMorgan Chase & Co., with a new price target of $10.50, indicating a potential upside of 18.24% from its current price.
• Other analysts have provided mixed ratings, with Itau BBA Securities downgrading Cemex to "market perform" while Barclays raised its target price from $9.00 to $10.00 and maintained an "overweight" rating.
• Cemex's recent earnings report showed a profit of $0.23 EPS for the quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, but revenue was slightly below the forecast at $4.13 billion.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Cemex (NYSE:CX - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an overweight rating in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $10.50 price objective on the construction company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $8.10.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on CX. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Cemex from $5.00 to $5.25 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Cemex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 20th. Itau BBA Securities downgraded Cemex from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on Cemex from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $8.53.

Cemex Stock Up 1.3%

Cemex stock traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $9.05. The stock had a trading volume of 20,100,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,585,258. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.11 billion, a PE ratio of 8.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.40. Cemex has a fifty-two week low of $4.89 and a fifty-two week high of $9.19. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $7.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $6.84. 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 (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The construction company reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.05. Cemex had a return on equity of 6.89% and a net margin of 9.61%.The company had revenue of $4.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Cemex will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cemex Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.0224 dividend. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Cemex's payout ratio is presently 7.84%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CX. Dodge & Cox raised its stake in Cemex by 35.1% in the 2nd 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Cemex by 30.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 40,745,819 shares of the construction company's stock worth $229,806,000 after purchasing an additional 9,541,622 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Cemex by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 36,836,513 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $207,757,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127,293 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Cemex by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 32,648,163 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $226,252,000 after buying an additional 2,337,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Cemex by 90.2% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 26,300,519 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $182,263,000 after buying an additional 12,469,417 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

About Cemex

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.