Herrera Jesus Vicente Gonzalez Sells 35,000 Shares of Cemex (NYSE:CX) Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: Herrera Jesus Vicente Gonzalez sold 35,000 shares of Cemex (NYSE:CX) at an average price of $12.16 on April 28 for proceeds of $425,600, reducing his stake by 3.97% to 846,010 shares, according to an SEC filing.
• Stock and analyst context: CX traded around $12.17 (up 0.3%), has a market cap of $17.62B and a 1-year range of $5.88–$13.35; the consensus rating is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $12.77 while several firms have raised targets to about $14–$14.50.
• Dividends and fundamentals: Cemex raised its quarterly dividend to $0.0225 (annualized $0.09, yield ~0.7%) and reported $0.16 EPS last quarter, with sell-side analysts projecting about $0.85 EPS for the year.

Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) insider Herrera Jesus Vicente Gonzalez sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.16, for a total transaction of $425,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 846,010 shares in the company, valued at $10,287,481.60. This trade represents a 3.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Cemex Stock Up 0.3%

CX stock traded up $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $12.17. 4,035,749 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,765,776. Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. has a 1 year low of $5.88 and a 1 year high of $13.35. The firm's 50 day moving average is $11.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.35. The stock has a market cap of $17.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.02 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.63.

Cemex (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 31st. The construction company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter. Cemex had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 3.64%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. will post 0.85 EPS for the current year.

Cemex Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This is a positive change from Cemex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. Cemex's payout ratio is currently 28.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Cemex from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cemex in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Cemex in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Cemex from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Cemex from $13.90 to $14.10 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.77.

Institutional Trading of Cemex

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Cemex by 84.9% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,529,612 shares of the construction company's stock worth $40,721,000 after buying an additional 2,080,341 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cemex in the third quarter worth approximately $1,124,000. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Cemex in the third quarter worth approximately $48,699,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Cemex by 84.4% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 195,439 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,757,000 after buying an additional 89,465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new position in shares of Cemex in the third quarter worth approximately $1,059,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

About Cemex

Cemex NYSE: CX is a global building materials company headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico. The company produces, distributes and sells cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates, as well as related building materials, to construction markets in more than 50 countries. Cemex's product portfolio also includes asphalt and mortar mixes, waste-derived fuels and other complementary construction solutions, supported by a network of production facilities, distribution centers and logistics operations.

Founded in 1906 as Cementos Hidalgo, the company adopted the Cemex name in 1976 following a series of domestic mergers and expansions.

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