Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC - Free Report) by 0.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 393,768 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,737 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.46% of Owens Corning worth $56,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in OC. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG purchased a new position in Owens Corning in the fourth quarter worth about $28,651,000. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,040 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,199,000 after buying an additional 94 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 82.0% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,223 shares of the construction company's stock worth $208,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 195.1% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 239 shares of the construction company's stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 13,954 shares of the construction company's stock worth $2,377,000 after buying an additional 754 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.40% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

OC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI set a $165.00 price objective on Owens Corning in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Owens Corning from $203.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Owens Corning from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Owens Corning from $235.00 to $218.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Owens Corning from $179.00 to $167.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $184.30.

Owens Corning Price Performance

Owens Corning stock traded up $2.90 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $150.19. 1,295,182 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 950,861. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. Owens Corning Inc has a 12-month low of $123.40 and a 12-month high of $214.53. The company has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.88, a PEG ratio of 3.82 and a beta of 1.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $138.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $152.16.

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

Owens Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. Owens Corning's payout ratio is 97.18%.

Owens Corning announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 14th that permits the company to buyback 12,000,000 shares. This buyback authorization permits the construction company to purchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Owens Corning 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.