Ternium (NYSE:TX) Stock Price Up 3.1% - Still a Buy?

Ternium S.A. (NYSE:TX - Get Free Report) shot up 3.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $34.46 and last traded at $34.45. 30,538 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 206,298 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded Ternium from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $52.33.

Ternium Stock Up 2.3 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 85.48, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Ternium (NYSE:TX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.45 billion. Ternium had a net margin of 0.42% and a return on equity of 4.70%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.38 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ternium S.A. will post 3.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Ternium Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be paid a $0.09 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 8.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 18th. Ternium's payout ratio is 450.00%.

Institutional Trading of Ternium

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in Ternium in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $107,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp raised its stake in shares of Ternium by 2.7% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 40,751 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,067 shares during the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Ternium by 17.5% during the first quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 21,934 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,271 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ternium by 1.8% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,196,107 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $133,021,000 after purchasing an additional 56,379 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Absolute Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new stake in Ternium in the first quarter valued at $5,426,000. 11.98% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ternium

Ternium SA, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes steel products in Mexico, Southern Region, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Steel, Mining, and Usiminas. The Steel segment offers slabs, hot and cold rolled products, coated products, roll formed and tubular products, bars, billets, and other products.