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 recipient of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,410,000 shares, a growth of 27.4% from the December 15th total of 10,530,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 10,590,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CEMEX

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in CEMEX by 41.8% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,249 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 1,843 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in CEMEX by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,606 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 1,747 shares in the last quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in CEMEX during the 3rd quarter worth about $70,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. acquired a new position in CEMEX in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in CEMEX during the second quarter worth about $81,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

CEMEX Stock Performance

NYSE CX traded down $0.10 on Friday, hitting $5.36. 8,216,175 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,205,883. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $5.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $5.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. CEMEX has a 1-year low of $5.00 and a 1-year high of $9.27.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. CEMEX’s dividend payout ratio is presently 20.00%.

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.