CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 22,970,000 shares, a growth of 48.4% from the January 31st total of 15,480,000 shares. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 9,440,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on CX. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on CEMEX from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, CEMEX presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.82.

CEMEX Stock Performance

Shares of CEMEX stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $5.96. 11,256,001 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,403,216. CEMEX has a 12 month low of $5.00 and a 12 month high of $9.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $5.90. The company has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.82.

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

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. CEMEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.52%.

Institutional Trading of CEMEX

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in shares of CEMEX by 159.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,986 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in CEMEX by 41.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,249 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC purchased a new stake in CEMEX in the fourth quarter worth $57,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of CEMEX in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of CEMEX during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

CEMEX Company Profile

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.