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

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

CEMEX Trading Up 0.4 %

CX stock traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $5.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,256,001 shares, 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 current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $6.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $5.90. The company has a market cap of $8.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.49.

CEMEX (NYSE:CX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The construction company reported $0.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.06. CEMEX had a net margin of 5.70% and a return on equity of 7.78%. On average, equities research analysts predict that CEMEX will post 0.69 EPS for the current year.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Stockholders 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 is currently 9.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Trading of CEMEX

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in CEMEX by 41.8% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,249 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 31,652 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $179,000 after purchasing an additional 2,452 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. grew its position in CEMEX by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 13,011 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 2,720 shares during the period. Holistic Financial Partners increased its stake in CEMEX by 25.0% during the 4th quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 13,933 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in CEMEX by 159.1% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 4,986 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 3,062 shares in the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.