Aberdeen Group plc Decreases Position in Owens Corning Inc $OC

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc has significantly reduced its stake in Owens Corning by 94%, selling over 316,000 shares in the first quarter, leaving them with approximately 20,381 shares valued at $2.91 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group Inc and Price T Rowe Associates Inc, have increased their stakes in Owens Corning, with Vanguard adding 1,053,855 shares and now holding nearly $1.4 billion worth of stock.
• Owens Corning's latest earnings report surpassed expectations, showing $4.21 earnings per share against a consensus estimate of $3.80, and the company has also authorized a buyback of up to 12 million shares.

Aberdeen Group plc cut its stake in Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC - Free Report) by 94.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,381 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 316,969 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc's holdings in Owens Corning were worth $2,911,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Owens Corning by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,815,685 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,401,876,000 after buying an additional 1,053,855 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management lifted its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 1.9% in the first quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,476,067 shares of the construction company's stock worth $210,812,000 after buying an additional 27,185 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 41.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,422,828 shares of the construction company's stock worth $242,337,000 after buying an additional 414,770 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 27.4% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 964,861 shares of the construction company's stock worth $164,335,000 after buying an additional 207,677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 0.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 865,665 shares of the construction company's stock worth $123,634,000 after buying an additional 5,819 shares in the last quarter. 88.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on OC shares. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Owens Corning from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $167.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $184.60.

Owens Corning Price Performance

Owens Corning stock opened at $148.2320 on Friday. Owens Corning Inc has a 12-month low of $123.40 and a 12-month high of $214.53. The stock has a market cap of $12.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.50, a PEG ratio of 10.62 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $142.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.80 by $0.41. Owens Corning had a net margin of 2.98% and a return on equity of 24.49%. The firm had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.64 earnings per share. Owens Corning's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Owens Corning Inc will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Owens Corning announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, May 14th that authorizes the company to buyback 12,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Owens Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Owens Corning's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.69%.

Owens Corning Company Profile

Owens Corning manufactures and sells building and construction materials in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Roofing, Insulation, and Composites. The Roofing segment manufactures and sells laminate and strip asphalt roofing shingles, oxidized asphalt materials, and roofing components used in residential and commercial construction, and specialty applications.

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