CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Short Interest Update

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,410,000 shares, an increase 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 company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CEMEX

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of CEMEX by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 6,249 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in CEMEX by 36.0% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 6,606 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,747 shares during the last quarter. Aureus Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in CEMEX during the third 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 shares of CEMEX in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $81,000. 82.97% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CEMEX Price Performance

CX stock traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $5.36. 8,216,175 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,205,883. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.98 and a quick ratio of 0.73. CEMEX has a 12-month low of $5.00 and a 12-month high of $9.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $5.59 and its 200 day moving average is $5.94. The company has a market cap of $7.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 1.49.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on CX. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of CEMEX from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $6.00 to $5.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of CEMEX from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $7.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of CEMEX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on CEMEX from $10.00 to $8.90 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on CEMEX from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $7.65.

About CEMEX

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.