CEMEX (NYSE:CX) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

CEMEX (NYSE:CX) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CX. Bradesco Corretora set a $7.50 target price on shares of CEMEX and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on CEMEX from $6.00 to $5.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley downgraded CEMEX from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CEMEX presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.40.

CEMEX Stock Up 1.8 %

CX stock opened at $5.71 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.27 billion, a PE ratio of 9.06 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $5.83 and its 200-day moving average is $5.78. CEMEX has a twelve month low of $4.89 and a twelve month high of $8.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

CEMEX (NYSE:CX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The construction company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.06. CEMEX had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 7.78%. Sell-side analysts expect that CEMEX will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CEMEX

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of CEMEX by 123.7% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,441,466 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $88,093,000 after purchasing an additional 7,986,204 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in CEMEX by 46.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 52,237 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 16,585 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its position in shares of CEMEX by 159.1% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,986 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 3,062 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 13.6% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 358,776 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,023,000 after acquiring an additional 43,089 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of CEMEX by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,863,502 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $21,790,000 after purchasing an additional 53,269 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About CEMEX

CEMEX, SAB. de C.V., together with its subsidiaries, produces, markets, distributes, and sells cement, ready-mix concrete, aggregates, urbanization solutions, and other construction materials and services worldwide. The company offers gray ordinary portland, white portland, oil-well, and blended cement products; mortar; and standard ready-mix, architectural and decorative, rapid-setting, fiber-reinforced, fluid-fill, roller-compacted, self-consolidating, pervious, and antibacterial, and other concrete products.