CEMEX (NYSE:CX) Shares Up 7.9% Following Strong Earnings

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) shot up 7.9% on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as high as $6.50 and last traded at $6.46. 4,352,017 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average session volume of 9,718,613 shares. The stock had previously closed at $5.98.

The construction company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.06. CEMEX had a return on equity of 2.28% and a net margin of 2.67%.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were paid a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. CEMEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 20.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on CX. Royal Bank of Canada lowered CEMEX from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded CEMEX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CEMEX from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $7.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Scotiabank cut their price target on CEMEX from $10.00 to $8.90 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on CEMEX from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $7.65.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CEMEX

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in CEMEX by 159.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,986 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 3,062 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in CEMEX by 41.8% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,249 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,843 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in CEMEX by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,606 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in CEMEX during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $70,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. purchased a new stake in CEMEX during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $77,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

CEMEX Trading Up 13.3 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $9.82 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58 and a beta of 1.49.

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.