Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 11,804 Shares of Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC)

Key Points

• The Bank of Nova Scotia significantly reduced its stake in Owens Corning by 81.2%, holding only 2,726 shares after selling 11,804 during the first quarter.
• Owens Corning's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $4.21, exceeding estimates by $0.41, and revenue increased by 10% compared to the previous year.
• The company approved a stock buyback plan for up to 12 million shares, signaling confidence from management regarding the stock's valuation.

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its stake in shares of Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC - Free Report) by 81.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,726 shares of the construction company's stock after selling 11,804 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Owens Corning were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of OC. R Squared Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Owens Corning by 153.8% in the first quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 2,360 shares of the construction company's stock worth $337,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430 shares during the period. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund boosted its holdings in Owens Corning by 15.0% in the 1st quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 4,600 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $657,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Owens Corning by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 6,944 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $992,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Owens Corning by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,476,067 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $210,812,000 after purchasing an additional 27,185 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Owens Corning in the 1st quarter valued at $417,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.40% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

OC has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Owens Corning from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $167.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $184.60.

Owens Corning Trading Up 5.3%

Owens Corning stock traded up $7.53 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $149.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 892,736 shares, compared to its average volume of 930,780. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.47 and a beta of 1.32. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $140.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $146.68. Owens Corning Inc has a 12 month low of $123.40 and a 12 month high of $214.53.

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

Owens Corning declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 14th that authorizes the company to repurchase 12,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the construction company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually 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. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Owens Corning's payout ratio is currently 71.69%.

About Owens Corning

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.