Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Short Interest Update

Key Points

• Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. experienced a notable decline in short interest, falling by 29.8% to 20,610,000 shares as of August 15th.
• Institutional investors now hold 82.97% of Cemex's stock, with several large firms increasing their positions significantly during the second quarter.
• Wall Street analysts have raised their target prices for Cemex, with Barclays and JPMorgan increasing their targets to $10.00 and $10.50 respectively, indicating a positive outlook.

Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totaling 20,610,000 shares, a drop of 29.8% from the July 31st total of 29,350,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 12,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 12,720,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Cemex from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $8.10 to $10.50 in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. Itau BBA Securities lowered shares of Cemex from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cemex from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 30th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Cemex in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Cemex from $8.60 to $10.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $9.02.

Cemex Price Performance

CX stock traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $9.48. The stock had a trading volume of 9,536,622 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,374,110. The company has a current ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Cemex has a 52 week low of $4.89 and a 52 week high of $9.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 1.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.02.

Cemex (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The construction company reported $0.23 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.05. Cemex had a net margin of 9.61% and a return on equity of 6.89%. The firm had revenue of $4.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Cemex will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Cemex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.0224 dividend. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 17th. Cemex's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cemex

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CX. WealthCollab LLC increased its holdings in Cemex by 73.7% in the 2nd quarter. WealthCollab LLC now owns 3,724 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cemex in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Cemex by 256.7% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 4,298 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 3,093 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Cemex by 63.7% in the 2nd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 5,210 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,027 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Militia Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Cemex in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Cemex

CEMEX, SAB. de C.V., together with its subsidiaries, produces, markets, distributes, and sells cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, urbanization solutions, and other construction materials and services worldwide. The company offers gray ordinary portland, white portland, oil-well, and blended cement products; mortar; and standard ready-mix, architectural and decorative, rapid-setting, fiber-reinforced, fluid-fill, roller-compacted, self-consolidating, pervious, and antibacterial, and other concrete products.