Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) Cut to "Strong Sell" at Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research has downgraded Owens Corning from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating, indicating significant concerns about the company's stock performance.
• Despite the downgrade, Owens Corning maintains a "Moderate Buy" consensus rating from ten analysts, and its average target price stands at $178.31.
• Owens Corning reported strong quarterly earnings with $4.21 EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, and showing a 10% year-over-year revenue growth to $2.75 billion.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Zacks Research from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report released on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $184.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $218.00 to $210.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $180.00 to $168.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Owens Corning in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Owens Corning has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $178.31.

Owens Corning Price Performance

OC stock opened at $126.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.56 billion, a PE ratio of 32.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 9.25 and a beta of 1.32. The company's 50-day moving average is $145.18 and its 200-day moving average is $141.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.52 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Owens Corning has a 1 year low of $123.23 and a 1 year high of $214.53.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The construction company reported $4.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $3.80 by $0.41. Owens Corning had a net margin of 2.98% and a return on equity of 24.49%. The company had revenue of $2.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $4.64 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Owens Corning will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Owens Corning

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,947,480 shares of the construction company's stock worth $1,367,977,000 after purchasing an additional 131,795 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 67.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,380,123 shares of the construction company's stock worth $339,930,000 after purchasing an additional 957,295 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,225,800 shares of the construction company's stock worth $305,291,000 after purchasing an additional 15,927 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management grew its stake in Owens Corning by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,476,067 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $210,812,000 after buying an additional 27,185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Owens Corning in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $163,719,000. 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.

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