Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Short Interest Down 23.5% in February

Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 13th, there was short interest totaling 9,004,523 shares, a drop of 23.5% from the January 29th total of 11,764,172 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 8,091,078 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 8,091,078 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cemex

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CX. Dodge & Cox boosted its holdings in shares of Cemex by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 95,023,835 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $658,515,000 after acquiring an additional 24,703,035 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its position in Cemex by 406.2% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 26,348,884 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $302,749,000 after purchasing an additional 21,143,554 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Cemex by 451.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,897,356 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $151,907,000 after purchasing an additional 13,834,438 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its position in Cemex by 90.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 26,300,519 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $182,263,000 after purchasing an additional 12,469,417 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Cemex in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $48,699,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Cemex Trading Down 6.0%

NYSE CX traded down $0.73 on Tuesday, hitting $11.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,818,893 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,518,837. The firm has a market cap of $16.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.30, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 1.60. Cemex has a 52-week low of $4.89 and a 52-week high of $13.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Cemex (NYSE:CX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The construction company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $4.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. Cemex had a return on equity of 2.85% and a net margin of 5.93%. Research analysts predict that Cemex will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cemex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 11th will be given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from Cemex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 11th. Cemex’s payout ratio is 13.64%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

CX has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC lowered shares of Cemex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $12.80 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Cemex in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Zacks Research cut Cemex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Cemex from $11.10 to $13.50 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cemex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Cemex has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.04.

Cemex Company Profile

Cemex (NYSE: CX) is a global building materials company headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico. The company produces, distributes and sells cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates, as well as related building materials, to construction markets in more than 50 countries. Cemex’s product portfolio also includes asphalt and mortar mixes, waste-derived fuels and other complementary construction solutions, supported by a network of production facilities, distribution centers and logistics operations.

Founded in 1906 as Cementos Hidalgo, the company adopted the Cemex name in 1976 following a series of domestic mergers and expansions.