Ternium (NYSE:TX) Reaches New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Ternium S.A. (NYSE:TX)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $40.80 and last traded at $40.69, with a volume of 232849 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.46.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on TX. Zacks Research upgraded Ternium from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 31st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Ternium in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ternium from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ternium from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, HSBC set a $41.00 price objective on shares of Ternium and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ternium presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $35.56.

Ternium Stock Down 0.6%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $37.46 and a 200 day moving average price of $34.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a current ratio of 2.46. The company has a market capitalization of $8.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.50 and a beta of 1.36.

Ternium (NYSE:TX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by ($0.68). The company had revenue of $3.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Ternium had a return on equity of 1.89% and a net margin of 3.72%.The business’s quarterly revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.16 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ternium S.A. will post 4.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ternium Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 10th were issued a $0.90 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 503.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 10th. Ternium’s payout ratio is 60.61%.

Institutional Trading of Ternium

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ternium by 8.5% in the third quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 5,813,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $201,905,000 after buying an additional 454,798 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its stake in Ternium by 10.1% in the 2nd quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,412,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $102,713,000 after acquiring an additional 312,595 shares during the period. Ninety One UK Ltd lifted its holdings in Ternium by 5.2% during the second quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 2,407,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,454,000 after purchasing an additional 118,595 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Ternium by 4.7% during the third quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 2,279,273 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,159,000 after purchasing an additional 101,748 shares during the period. Finally, Ninety One North America Inc. boosted its position in Ternium by 23.4% during the second quarter. Ninety One North America Inc. now owns 1,023,049 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,794,000 after purchasing an additional 194,174 shares during the period. 11.98% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ternium

Ternium SA (NYSE:TX) is a leading vertically integrated steel producer with operations across the Americas. The company manufactures a broad range of flat and long steel products, including hot‐rolled and cold‐rolled coils, galvanized and tin-coated sheets, plates, rebars, wire rods, bars and structural sections. These products serve diverse end markets such as automotive, construction, energy, industrial machinery, home appliances and packaging.

Established in 2005 through the consolidation of steel assets in Argentina and Mexico, Ternium has grown to operate major production facilities in Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, Central America and the United States.