Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 1,127,293 Shares of CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX)

Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,836,513 shares of the construction company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,127,293 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CEMEX were worth $207,757,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in CEMEX by 159.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,986 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of CEMEX by 13.6% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 358,776 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $2,023,000 after purchasing an additional 43,089 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in CEMEX by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,863,502 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $21,790,000 after acquiring an additional 53,269 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in CEMEX by 30.5% during the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 30,937 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $174,000 after purchasing an additional 7,232 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in CEMEX in the fourth quarter worth about $63,000. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

CEMEX Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:CX opened at $6.40 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.16 and a beta of 1.41. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $5.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $5.80. CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. has a 12-month low of $4.89 and a 12-month high of $8.10.

CEMEX (NYSE:CX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The construction company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of $186.46 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $214.59 million. CEMEX had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 5.70%. Sell-side analysts expect that CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders 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 8.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on CX shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of CEMEX from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on CEMEX from $6.00 to $6.80 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. StockNews.com raised shares of CEMEX from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 3rd. Finally, Bradesco Corretora set a $7.50 price target on CEMEX and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.58.

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.