ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC Acquires Shares of 492,700 Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. $CX

Key Points

• ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake of 492,700 shares of Cemex (~$5.66M) in Q4, making Cemex 6.7% of the fund's holdings and its third-largest position.
• Insider Herrera Jesus Vicente Gonzalez sold 35,000 shares at an average price of $12.16 (≈$425,600), reducing his ownership by about 3.97% and leaving corporate insiders with roughly 1.0% of the stock.
• Institutional investors hold about 82.97% of Cemex, analyst sentiment is mixed (six Buy, six Hold) with an average target of $12.77, and the company recently raised its quarterly dividend to $0.0225 per share.

ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 492,700 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $5,661,000. Cemex comprises 6.7% of ABS Direct Equity Fund LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of CX. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its holdings in shares of Cemex by 334.7% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,189 shares of the construction company's stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 7,075 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Cemex by 58.8% during 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. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Cemex by 53.2% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 57,269 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $397,000 after purchasing an additional 19,878 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Cemex by 256.7% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,298 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Cemex by 57.1% in the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 50,480 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $350,000 after acquiring an additional 18,348 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Cemex

In related news, insider Herrera Jesus Vicente Gonzalez sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.16, for a total value of $425,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 846,010 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,287,481.60. This represents a 3.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on CX. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Cemex from $13.90 to $14.10 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Cemex in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Cemex from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Cemex from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Cemex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $12.77.

Cemex Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of CX stock opened at $12.17 on Thursday. Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. has a 1 year low of $5.88 and a 1 year high of $13.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.63. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $11.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.36. The company has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a PE ratio of 38.02 and a beta of 1.60.

Cemex (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The construction company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Cemex had a return on equity of 3.64% and a net margin of 2.74%. Research analysts predict that Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Cemex Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This is a positive change from Cemex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. Cemex's payout ratio is currently 28.13%.

Cemex Profile

Cemex NYSE: CX is a global building materials company headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico. The company produces, distributes and sells cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates, as well as related building materials, to construction markets in more than 50 countries. Cemex's product portfolio also includes asphalt and mortar mixes, waste-derived fuels and other complementary construction solutions, supported by a network of production facilities, distribution centers and logistics operations.

Founded in 1906 as Cementos Hidalgo, the company adopted the Cemex name in 1976 following a series of domestic mergers and expansions.

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