Lazard Asset Management LLC Purchases 508,016 Shares of Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. $CX

Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its position in Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) by 14.4% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,046,527 shares of the construction company’s stock after purchasing an additional 508,016 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Cemex were worth $46,292,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Cemex by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 36,132,733 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $415,165,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,219 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Cemex by 406.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 21,143,554 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Cemex by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 21,191,754 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $243,494,000 after purchasing an additional 2,182,666 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Cemex by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 18,737,871 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $215,298,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840,515 shares during the period. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Cemex by 18.9% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 12,328,806 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $141,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,962,140 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on CX. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Cemex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Cemex from $12.75 to $13.50 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Cemex in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Cemex from $14.50 to $15.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Santander raised shares of Cemex to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.07.

Cemex Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE CX opened at $12.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.23. The company has a market capitalization of $17.73 billion, a PE ratio of 35.99 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. has a 12 month low of $8.15 and a 12 month high of $13.67.

Cemex (NYSE:CX) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The construction company reported $0.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $4.59 billion for the quarter. Cemex had a return on equity of 3.82% and a net margin of 2.83%. Research analysts forecast that Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. will post 0.87 EPS for the current year.

Cemex Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 29th. Investors of record on Wednesday, June 17th were given a $0.0312 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a positive change from Cemex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. Cemex’s dividend payout ratio is 35.29%.

Cemex 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.