Short Interest in Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina S.A. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:LOMA) Declines By 35.2%

Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina S.A. Sponsored ADR (NYSE:LOMA) was the target of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 14th, there was short interest totaling 970,771 shares, a decline of 35.2% from the July 30th total of 1,498,490 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 499,071 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.9 days. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina by 5.1% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 31,336 shares of the company’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 1,524 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp purchased a new position in shares of Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina in the third quarter worth about $28,000. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in shares of Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina by 17.0% in the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 36,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after acquiring an additional 5,300 shares during the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its stake in shares of Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina by 35.3% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 24,773 shares of the company’s stock valued at $272,000 after acquiring an additional 6,463 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC boosted its holdings in Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina by 25.4% during the 3rd quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC now owns 57,640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $425,000 after acquiring an additional 11,684 shares during the period. 19.32% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on LOMA. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 5th. Weiss Ratings raised Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Stock Up 3.4%

Shares of NYSE LOMA opened at $10.41 on Thursday. Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina has a one year low of $7.04 and a one year high of $13.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.20, a current ratio of 2.25 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $10.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.92, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 0.74.

Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina (NYSE:LOMA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.11 by ($0.06). Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina had a return on equity of 3.79% and a net margin of 5.05%.The business had revenue of $160.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $108.44 million. As a group, analysts expect that Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina will post 0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Loma Negra Compania Industrial Argentina Company Profile

Loma Negra Compañía Industrial Argentina SA is the leading cement producer in Argentina, with a history dating back to its founding in Buenos Aires in 1926. The company operates an integrated network of cement and lime plants, as well as quarries and ready-mix concrete facilities. Its operations encompass the extraction of limestone, the production of clinker, hydraulic cement and quicklime, and the distribution of aggregates and concrete for a wide range of construction projects.

The company’s product portfolio serves residential, commercial, industrial and public infrastructure markets across Argentina.