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

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,410,000 shares, an increase of 27.4% from the December 15th total of 10,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 10,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CEMEX

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 123.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 14,441,466 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $88,093,000 after purchasing an additional 7,986,204 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in CEMEX during the 2nd quarter worth $776,000. GFS Advisors LLC increased its position in CEMEX by 1,505.0% in the third quarter. GFS Advisors LLC now owns 166,427 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 156,058 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. lifted its stake in CEMEX by 8.9% in the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 9,889,608 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $60,327,000 after buying an additional 807,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 63.2% during the third quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 5,397,977 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,927,000 after acquiring an additional 2,090,688 shares during the period. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

CEMEX Stock Down 1.7 %

CX traded down $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $5.36. 8,216,175 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,205,883. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $5.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 1.49. CEMEX has a fifty-two week low of $5.00 and a fifty-two week high of $9.27.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 10th. CEMEX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded CEMEX from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $7.00 to $6.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of CEMEX from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $6.00 to $5.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of CEMEX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays dropped their price target on CEMEX from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on CEMEX from $10.00 to $8.90 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, CEMEX currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $7.65.

About CEMEX

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.