KBC Group NV Purchases 272,367 Shares of Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC)

KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC - Free Report) by 75.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 634,783 shares of the construction company's stock after acquiring an additional 272,367 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.74% of Owens Corning worth $90,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Owens Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Owens Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $349,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of Owens Corning by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 640,506 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $109,091,000 after buying an additional 16,958 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Owens Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,220,000. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Owens Corning in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,699,000. Institutional investors own 88.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OC has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $199.00 to $184.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $235.00 to $218.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $203.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $200.00 to $176.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of Owens Corning in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $183.80.

Owens Corning Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of OC opened at $138.08 on Friday. Owens Corning Inc has a one year low of $123.41 and a one year high of $214.53. The company has a market cap of $11.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.62, a P/E/G ratio of 3.64 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $138.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $154.02.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The construction company reported $2.97 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.82 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.52 billion. Owens Corning had a net margin of 2.28% and a return on equity of 25.03%. The company's revenue was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.40 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Owens Corning Inc will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Owens Corning Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.00%. Owens Corning's payout ratio is presently 97.18%.

Owens Corning announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 14th that authorizes the company to buyback 12,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

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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