CEMEX (NYSE:CX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of CEMEX (NYSE:CX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on CX. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on CEMEX from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of CEMEX from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Bradesco Corretora set a $7.50 target price on shares of CEMEX and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CEMEX presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.63.

CEMEX Price Performance

CX opened at $5.41 on Wednesday. CEMEX has a twelve month low of $4.89 and a twelve month high of $8.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The firm has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.58 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $5.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.80.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.06. CEMEX had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 5.70%. Equities research analysts expect that CEMEX will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 10th. CEMEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CEMEX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CX. Dodge & Cox grew its stake in CEMEX by 7,200.6% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 49,622,009 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $279,868,000 after buying an additional 48,942,309 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in CEMEX by 745.6% during the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 26,739,107 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $150,809,000 after purchasing an additional 23,576,914 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in CEMEX in the 4th quarter worth about $86,056,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of CEMEX by 30.6% in 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 valued at $229,806,000 after purchasing an additional 9,541,622 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 123.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,441,466 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $88,093,000 after buying an additional 7,986,204 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently 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.