CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) saw a large decrease in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,930,000 shares, a decrease of 17.1% from the February 28th total of 21,640,000 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,300,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on CEMEX from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley downgraded CEMEX from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.82.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of CX. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 159.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,986 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in CEMEX by 41.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,249 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CEMEX in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of CEMEX in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new position in CEMEX in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CEMEX Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE CX traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $5.68. 11,354,023 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,756,371. CEMEX has a 12-month low of $5.00 and a 12-month high of $9.27. The firm has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.02 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $6.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.82.

CEMEX (NYSE:CX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The construction company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.06. CEMEX had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 5.70%. As a group, analysts expect that CEMEX will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

CEMEX Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were given a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. CEMEX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.70%.

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.