CEMEX (NYSE:CX) Cut to Equal Weight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of CEMEX (NYSE:CX - Free Report) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on CX. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on CEMEX from $5.00 to $6.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of CEMEX from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $7.82.

CEMEX Price Performance

Shares of CEMEX stock traded down $0.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $5.67. 20,251,368 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,774,344. The business has a fifty day moving average of $6.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $5.89. The company has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.99 and a beta of 1.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. CEMEX has a 1 year low of $5.00 and a 1 year high of $9.27.

CEMEX (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The construction company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, research analysts predict that CEMEX will post 0.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a dividend of $0.0207 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. CEMEX's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On CEMEX

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in CEMEX by 159.1% in the fourth 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 during the period. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of CEMEX by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,249 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 1,843 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC acquired a new position in CEMEX during the 4th quarter worth about $57,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new position in CEMEX during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in CEMEX during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.