Great Lakes Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Owens Corning Inc $OC

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its position in Owens Corning by 3.2%, owning approximately 0.30% of the company valued at about $36.6 million.
• Owens Corning reported quarterly earnings of $4.21 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations of $3.80, while revenue rose 10% year-over-year to $2.75 billion.
• The company has initiated a share buyback program to repurchase up to 12 million outstanding shares, reflecting the board's belief that its stock is undervalued.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 255,848 shares of the construction company's stock after buying an additional 7,915 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.30% of Owens Corning worth $36,606,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of OC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Owens Corning by 12.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,815,685 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $1,401,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,053,855 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Owens Corning by 67.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,380,123 shares of the construction company's stock worth $339,930,000 after buying an additional 957,295 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Owens Corning by 1.9% during 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 during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Owens Corning by 0.7% during 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 during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Owens Corning by 179.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 863,230 shares of the construction company's stock worth $123,287,000 after buying an additional 553,864 shares during the period. 88.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Owens Corning Trading Up 2.0%

NYSE OC opened at $155.44 on Monday. Owens Corning Inc has a 12 month low of $123.40 and a 12 month high of $214.53. 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 company has a market capitalization of $13.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.02 and a beta of 1.32. The company's fifty day moving average price is $146.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $142.70.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $4.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.64 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Owens Corning Inc will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Owens Corning declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Wednesday, May 14th that allows the company to repurchase 12,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the construction company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Owens Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 21st were given a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 21st. Owens Corning's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 71.69%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OC has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Owens Corning from $167.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Owens Corning from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Owens Corning from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Owens Corning from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $184.60.

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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