Cemex (NYSE:CX) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Morgan Stanley

Cemex (NYSE:CX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $14.00 price objective on the construction company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 32.51% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on CX. Barclays reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Cemex in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Scotiabank raised shares of Cemex from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $13.50 to $13.90 in a report on Wednesday, March 11th. HSBC cut Cemex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $12.80 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cemex in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research cut Cemex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.38.

Cemex Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CX traded up $0.58 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $10.57. 4,548,273 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,101,712. The firm has a market capitalization of $15.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.83. Cemex has a 52 week low of $4.89 and a 52 week high of $13.35.

Cemex (NYSE:CX) last issued 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 net margin of 5.93% and a return on equity of 2.85%. The firm had revenue of $4.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Cemex will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Cemex

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dodge & Cox raised its holdings in shares of Cemex by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 96,734,370 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $869,642,000 after buying an additional 1,710,535 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd grew its position in Cemex by 3.5% in 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 last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in Cemex by 7.7% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 32,648,163 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $226,252,000 after acquiring an additional 2,337,817 shares during the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 21,143,554 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Cemex by 11.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,182,666 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.