South Dakota Investment Council Purchases 41,406 Shares of Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its stake in shares of Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC - Free Report) by 224.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 59,862 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 41,406 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council owned about 0.07% of Owens Corning worth $8,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in OC. Allstate Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Owens Corning during the 4th quarter valued at about $425,000. Integrated Quantitative Investments LLC bought a new position in Owens Corning during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $349,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Owens Corning by 33.3% in the first quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,639 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $234,000 after acquiring an additional 409 shares during the last quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC grew its position in Owens Corning by 60.9% in the fourth quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 6,250 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,064,000 after acquiring an additional 2,365 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Owens Corning by 11.9% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 30,921 shares of the construction company's stock worth $4,416,000 after acquiring an additional 3,298 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on OC. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on Owens Corning from $199.00 to $184.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Evercore ISI set a $165.00 price target on shares of Owens Corning in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Barclays dropped 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Owens Corning from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $184.30.

Owens Corning Price Performance

OC traded down $1.61 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $140.08. 763,582 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 865,090. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $150.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 1.33. Owens Corning Inc has a one year low of $123.41 and a one year high of $214.53.

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

Owens Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 21st. Owens Corning's dividend payout ratio is currently 97.18%.

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

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.