Cemex (NYSE:CX) Rating Lowered to "Hold" at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Cemex (NYSE:CX - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Sunday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on CX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Cemex from $6.00 to $6.80 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of Cemex from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Cemex from $5.00 to $5.25 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Itau BBA Securities lowered shares of Cemex from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $9.00 price objective (up previously from $8.00) on shares of Cemex in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $7.74.

Cemex Trading Up 0.8%

NYSE:CX traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $7.98. 16,383,302 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,085,380. The company's 50 day moving average is $7.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $6.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The company has a market capitalization of $11.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.38. Cemex has a twelve month low of $4.89 and a twelve month high of $8.00.

Cemex (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 28th. The construction company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter. Cemex had a net margin of 8.84% and a return on equity of 6.47%. The business had revenue of $186.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $214.59 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cemex will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cemex Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.0224 dividend. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. Cemex's payout ratio is 8.33%.

Institutional Trading of Cemex

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in CX. Dodge & Cox raised its position in Cemex by 7,200.6% in the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 49,622,009 shares of the construction company's stock worth $279,868,000 after purchasing an additional 48,942,309 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in Cemex by 745.6% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 26,739,107 shares of the construction company's stock worth $150,809,000 after purchasing an additional 23,576,914 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Cemex by 30.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 40,745,819 shares of the construction company's stock worth $229,806,000 after purchasing an additional 9,541,622 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its position in Cemex by 115.6% in the 1st quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 13,831,102 shares of the construction company's stock worth $77,592,000 after purchasing an additional 7,416,743 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Cemex in the 1st quarter worth $27,123,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Cemex Company Profile

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.