Short Interest in Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC) Expands By 25.4%

Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 5,165,894 shares, a growth of 25.4% from the March 15th total of 4,120,503 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,528,448 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.4 days. Approximately 6.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pitcairn Co. lifted its holdings in Owens Corning by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 1,821 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $250,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp lifted its holdings in Owens Corning by 13.3% in the 3rd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 748 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Viawealth LLC lifted its holdings in Owens Corning by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Viawealth LLC now owns 2,563 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Owens Corning by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,997 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $447,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in Owens Corning by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 6,153 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $689,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 88.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

OC has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $143.00 price objective on Owens Corning in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Owens Corning from $137.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Argus raised Owens Corning to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Owens Corning from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Owens Corning from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Owens Corning presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.64.

Owens Corning Stock Performance

NYSE:OC traded up $4.79 on Friday, hitting $122.65. The stock had a trading volume of 2,225,758 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,137,231. The stock has a market cap of $9.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.20. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $116.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $117.97. Owens Corning has a 52-week low of $97.53 and a 52-week high of $159.42.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The construction company reported $1.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.36 by ($0.26). Owens Corning had a positive return on equity of 21.93% and a negative net margin of 5.17%.The firm had revenue of $2.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.17 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.22 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 16.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Owens Corning will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Owens Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 9th were given a dividend of $0.79 per share. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 9th. Owens Corning’s payout ratio is presently -49.38%.

About Owens Corning

Owens Corning is a global leader in composite materials and building products, with a primary focus on insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composites. The company serves professional contractors, builders and industrial manufacturers by providing solutions designed to improve energy efficiency, structural performance and durability. Its products are used in residential, commercial, and industrial applications worldwide.

The company’s core product lines include fiberglass insulation for thermal and acoustic comfort, roofing shingles and underlayment systems engineered for weather protection, and advanced composite materials for markets such as wind energy, automotive, marine and infrastructure.