UniSuper Management Pty Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Owens Corning Inc $OC

Key Points

• UniSuper Management Pty Ltd significantly increased its stake in Owens Corning Inc by 333.1%, acquiring a total of 7,363 shares worth approximately $1,052,000.
• Owens Corning recently reported earnings of $4.21 per share, exceeding expectations and indicating a 10% revenue increase year-over-year with $2.75 billion in revenue.
• The company has launched a share buyback program to repurchase up to 12 million shares, signaling management's confidence in the stock's current valuation.

UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC - Free Report) by 333.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,363 shares of the construction company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,663 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd's holdings in Owens Corning were worth $1,052,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 position in shares of Owens Corning by 67.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,380,123 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $339,930,000 after purchasing an additional 957,295 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of Owens Corning by 1.9% in the first 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Owens Corning by 0.7% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 865,665 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $123,634,000 after purchasing an additional 5,819 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Owens Corning by 179.0% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 863,230 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $123,287,000 after purchasing an additional 553,864 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.40% of the company's stock.

Owens Corning Price Performance

Shares of NYSE OC opened at $153.18 on Thursday. Owens Corning Inc has a 1-year low of $123.40 and a 1-year high of $214.53. The business has a 50-day moving average of $147.00 and a 200-day moving average of $142.75. 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 $12.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.79, a PEG ratio of 10.56 and a beta of 1.32.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $2.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.70 billion. Owens Corning had a return on equity of 24.49% and a net margin of 2.98%.The company's revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.64 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Owens Corning Inc will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Owens Corning Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 21st were issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 21st. Owens Corning's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 71.69%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on OC shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Owens Corning from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Owens Corning from $167.00 to $173.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Owens Corning from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Owens Corning from $165.00 to $169.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on Owens Corning from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target 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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