Short Interest in Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Increases By 57.8%

Key Points

• Short interest in Cemex rose by 57.8% to 11,089,340 shares as of March 31, representing about 0.8% of shares outstanding and a short-interest ratio of 1.6 days.
• Major institutions sharply increased positions—Schroder and Wellington added roughly 21.1M and 13.8M shares respectively—and institutional/hedge fund ownership totals 82.97%.
• Cemex missed quarterly EPS (reported -$0.19 vs $0.19 est.) despite a revenue beat, raised its quarterly dividend to $0.0225 (annual $0.09, ~0.8% yield), and carries an average analyst rating of Hold with a $11.40 target.

Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 11,089,340 shares, a growth of 57.8% from the March 15th total of 7,028,233 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 6,953,228 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cemex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CX. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Cemex by 406.2% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 26,348,884 shares of the construction company's stock worth $302,749,000 after purchasing an additional 21,143,554 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Cemex by 451.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,897,356 shares of the construction company's stock worth $151,907,000 after purchasing an additional 13,834,438 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its position in shares of Cemex by 90.2% during the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 26,300,519 shares of the construction company's stock worth $182,263,000 after purchasing an additional 12,469,417 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cemex during the third quarter worth $48,699,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Cemex by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 10,857,832 shares of the construction company's stock worth $125,392,000 after purchasing an additional 3,766,639 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cemex Stock Down 0.4%

CX opened at $11.88 on Tuesday. Cemex has a one year low of $5.12 and a one year high of $13.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock's fifty day moving average is $11.65 and its 200-day moving average is $11.12. The company has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 1.60.

Cemex (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The construction company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.38). Cemex had a return on equity of 2.85% and a net margin of 5.93%.The firm had revenue of $4.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Cemex will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cemex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Cemex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. Cemex's payout ratio is presently 13.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cemex in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Cemex from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Cemex from $13.90 to $14.10 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised Cemex from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $14.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Cemex in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $11.40.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.