Ternium (NYSE:TX) Upgraded to "Strong Sell" at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Ternium's stock rating has been upgraded by Wells Fargo & Company to a "strong sell," while other analysts have varied ratings from sell to buy.
• The company reported EPS of $1.28 for the last quarter, significantly above the consensus estimate of $0.66, although revenue fell 12.6% year over year.
• Institutional investors have increased their holdings in Ternium significantly, with Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosting their stake by 1,361% in the second quarter.

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ternium (NYSE:TX - Free Report) to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

TX has been the subject of several other research reports. Scotiabank cut their price target on Ternium from $53.00 to $41.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered Ternium from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.83.

Ternium Stock Performance

Shares of TX stock traded down $0.5590 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $31.8410. 289,327 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 230,944. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 1.59 and a current ratio of 2.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.38 billion, a PE ratio of 10.51 and a beta of 1.53. Ternium has a 12 month low of $24.00 and a 12 month high of $37.98. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $31.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.98.

Ternium (NYSE:TX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.66 by $0.62. Ternium had a return on equity of 1.95% and a net margin of 3.66%.The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.19 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.11) EPS. Ternium's revenue for the quarter was down 12.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Ternium will post 4.37 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ternium

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ternium by 500.0% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 1,200 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Ternium by 51.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,913 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $60,000 after acquiring an additional 653 shares in the last quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ternium by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 2,182 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 482 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in Ternium by 201,700.0% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 2,018 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $63,000 after acquiring an additional 2,017 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in Ternium in the 2nd quarter worth $119,000. 11.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ternium

Ternium SA, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes steel products in Mexico, Southern Region, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Steel, Mining, and Usiminas. The Steel segment offers slabs, hot and cold rolled products, coated products, roll formed and tubular products, bars, billets, and other products.