Cemex (NYSE:CX) Upgraded 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 on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a $14.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 32.51% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Scotiabank upgraded Cemex from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $13.50 to $13.90 in a research report on Wednesday, March 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cemex in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Cemex in a report on Thursday, March 12th. HSBC cut shares of Cemex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $12.80 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Cemex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.38.

Cemex Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CX traded up $0.58 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $10.57. 4,548,273 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,101,712. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $12.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.90. The stock has a market cap of $15.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.99 and a beta of 1.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. Cemex has a one year low of $4.89 and a one year high of $13.35.

Cemex (NYSE:CX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Cemex will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in Cemex by 334.7% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 9,189 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 7,075 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cemex by 58.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,187,143 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $40,320,000 after buying an additional 2,661,030 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Cemex by 12.9% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 39,781 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $276,000 after buying an additional 4,557 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in Cemex by 53.2% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 57,269 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $397,000 after buying an additional 19,878 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Cemex by 9.7% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 3,998,871 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $27,712,000 after buying an additional 352,912 shares during the last quarter. 82.97% of the stock is 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.