Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Short Interest Update

Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totaling 8,054,129 shares, a drop of 25.0% from the November 30th total of 10,744,515 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 7,151,048 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days. Based on an average trading volume of 7,151,048 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.1 days. Currently, 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Cemex

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bank of Montreal Can grew its stake in Cemex by 142.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 120,982 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $838,000 after buying an additional 71,047 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Cemex during the 2nd quarter worth $1,322,000. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Cemex by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 813,753 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $5,639,000 after acquiring an additional 69,979 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in Cemex by 7.7% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 32,648,163 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $226,252,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337,817 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Cemex by 4.6% in the first quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,785,660 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $10,018,000 after acquiring an additional 77,898 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Cemex Stock Performance

NYSE:CX traded down $0.20 on Tuesday, reaching $11.60. 2,276,328 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,718,291. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.91 and a quick ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market cap of $16.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.61. Cemex has a 52 week low of $4.89 and a 52 week high of $12.03. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.23.

Cemex (NYSE:CX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The construction company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.01 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $4.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $226.73 million. Cemex had a net margin of 8.62% and a return on equity of 6.85%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Cemex will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Cemex Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.0224 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.8%. Cemex’s payout ratio is presently 9.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CX shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Cemex from $7.00 to $8.25 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cemex in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Cemex from $10.00 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Bank of America raised shares of Cemex from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $10.00 to $10.80 in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Cemex from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Cemex has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $10.14.

About Cemex

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.