CEMEX (NYSE:CX) Lowered to Equal Weight Rating by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of CEMEX (NYSE:CX) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on CEMEX from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.82.

CEMEX Price Performance

NYSE CX opened at $5.67 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market cap of $8.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.45. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.89. CEMEX has a 52-week low of $5.00 and a 52-week high of $9.27.

CEMEX (NYSE:CX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 7.78%. Analysts anticipate that CEMEX will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 was Monday, March 10th. CEMEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CX. Dodge & Cox increased its stake in shares of CEMEX by 7,200.6% during the fourth 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. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 30.6% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 9,541,622 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of CEMEX by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 36,836,513 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $207,757,000 after acquiring an additional 1,127,293 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of CEMEX by 745.6% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 26,739,107 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $150,809,000 after acquiring an additional 23,576,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brandes Investment Partners LP increased its position in CEMEX by 33.7% during the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 24,233,835 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $136,679,000 after acquiring an additional 6,110,857 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.