Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Shares of Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC - Get Free Report) have received an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the twelve brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $184.30.

OC has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Owens Corning in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $183.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group dropped their target price on Owens Corning from $235.00 to $218.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Owens Corning from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Owens Corning from $203.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI set a $165.00 target price on Owens Corning in a research report on Thursday, May 15th.

Owens Corning Stock Performance

Owens Corning stock traded up $2.90 during trading on Monday, hitting $150.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,295,202 shares, compared to its average volume of 865,552. Owens Corning has a 1 year low of $123.41 and a 1 year high of $214.53. 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 stock's 50 day moving average is $138.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $152.02. The stock has a market cap of $12.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.89 and a beta of 1.33.

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

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

Owens Corning Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 7th. Investors of record on Monday, July 21st will be given a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 21st. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.84%. Owens Corning's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.18%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Owens Corning

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank bought a new position in Owens Corning in the fourth quarter valued at $208,519,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,053,855 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 957,295 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Owens Corning in the first quarter valued at $91,698,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 179.0% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 863,230 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $123,287,000 after buying an additional 553,864 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.40% of the company's stock.

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.