CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Short Interest Up 6.8% in July

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,580,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the June 30th total of 8,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 7,270,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.2 days. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on CEMEX in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of CEMEX from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays upgraded shares of CEMEX from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $9.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada began coverage on shares of CEMEX in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of CEMEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $8.78.

CEMEX Stock Performance

CX traded down $0.17 during trading on Thursday, hitting $6.25. 11,469,624 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,293,463. The firm has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.43 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. CEMEX has a one year low of $5.67 and a one year high of $9.27. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $6.63 and its 200 day moving average is $7.61.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a Variable dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.349 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 17th. CEMEX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 14.29%.

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. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in CEMEX in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,092,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 28.5% in the second quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 72,782 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 16,127 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of CEMEX by 0.6% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 19,983,888 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $127,697,000 after purchasing an additional 112,479 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of CEMEX by 6,721.1% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 867,845 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $5,546,000 after purchasing an additional 855,122 shares during the period. Finally, Hosking Partners LLP lifted its holdings in CEMEX by 21.2% during the 2nd quarter. Hosking Partners LLP now owns 4,558,040 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $29,126,000 after purchasing an additional 798,550 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.