Short Interest in Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Increases By 57.8%

Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 11,089,340 shares, a growth of 57.8% from the March 15th total of 7,028,233 shares. Approximately 0.8% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 6,953,228 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cemex

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CX. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of Cemex by 406.2% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 26,348,884 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $302,749,000 after purchasing an additional 21,143,554 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Cemex by 451.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,897,356 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $151,907,000 after purchasing an additional 13,834,438 shares during the period. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its position in shares of Cemex by 90.2% during the second quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 26,300,519 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $182,263,000 after purchasing an additional 12,469,417 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Cemex during the third quarter worth $48,699,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Cemex by 53.1% during the fourth quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 10,857,832 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $125,392,000 after purchasing an additional 3,766,639 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Cemex Stock Down 0.4%

CX opened at $11.88 on Tuesday. Cemex has a one year low of $5.12 and a one year high of $13.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $11.65 and its 200-day moving average is $11.12. The company has a market capitalization of $17.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.99 and a beta of 1.60.

Cemex (NYSE:CX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The construction company reported ($0.19) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by ($0.38). Cemex had a return on equity of 2.85% and a net margin of 5.93%.The firm had revenue of $4.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that Cemex will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Cemex Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were given a dividend of $0.0225 per share. This represents a $0.09 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from Cemex’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 11th. Cemex’s payout ratio is presently 13.64%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cemex in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research downgraded Cemex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Cemex from $13.90 to $14.10 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised Cemex from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $14.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cemex in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $11.40.

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.