Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.69 Per Share

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, December 5th,RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.69 per share by the construction company on Friday, January 17th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. This is a boost from Owens Corning’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60.

Owens Corning has raised its dividend payment by an average of 29.4% per year over the last three years. Owens Corning has a payout ratio of 14.7% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Owens Corning to earn $15.76 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.40 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.2%.

Owens Corning Price Performance

OC stock opened at $200.16 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Owens Corning has a 52-week low of $138.26 and a 52-week high of $214.53. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $188.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $177.19.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The construction company reported $4.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.05 by $0.33. Owens Corning had a return on equity of 25.82% and a net margin of 9.92%. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.04 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Owens Corning will post 15.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Marcio A. Sandri sold 3,051 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.50, for a total transaction of $538,501.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 57,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,074,443.50. This trade represents a 5.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.89% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $189.00 to $196.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised Owens Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Owens Corning from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Owens Corning from $197.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $192.62.

About Owens Corning

Owens Corning manufactures and sells building and construction materials in the United States, Europe, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates in three segments: Roofing, Insulation, and Composites. The Roofing segment manufactures and sells laminate and strip asphalt roofing shingles, oxidized asphalt materials, and roofing components used in residential and commercial construction, and specialty applications.