Cemex (NYSE:CX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Morgan Stanley

Cemex (NYSE:CX) was upgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a $14.00 target price on the construction company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 29.31% from the company’s previous close.

CX has been the topic of several other research reports. HSBC cut shares of Cemex from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $12.80 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, February 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Cemex in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Cemex in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Zacks Research cut shares of Cemex from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded shares of Cemex from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $13.50 to $13.90 in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Six 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $11.38.

Cemex Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CX opened at $10.83 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The company has a market cap of $15.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.40 and a beta of 1.60. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $12.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.92. Cemex has a 1-year low of $4.89 and a 1-year high of $13.35.

Cemex (NYSE:CX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The construction company reported ($0.19) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.38). Cemex had a net margin of 5.93% and a return on equity of 2.85%. The company had revenue of $4.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. Analysts forecast that Cemex will post 0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of CX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Cemex by 84.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,529,612 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,721,000 after purchasing an additional 2,080,341 shares during the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cemex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,124,000. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Cemex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,699,000. Allianz Asset Management GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Cemex in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,059,000. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its position in shares of Cemex by 84.4% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 195,439 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $1,757,000 after purchasing an additional 89,465 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Cemex Company Profile

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.