ARGA Investment Management LP Makes New Investment in Owens Corning Inc $OC

ARGA Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Owens Corning Inc (NYSE:OC) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 161,642 shares of the construction company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,493,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in OC. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 460.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,313,019 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $146,940,000 after buying an additional 1,078,877 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Owens Corning during the 4th quarter valued at $119,748,000. Gendell Jeffrey L grew its holdings in Owens Corning by 349.3% in the 4th quarter. Gendell Jeffrey L now owns 922,063 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $103,188,000 after acquiring an additional 716,839 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Owens Corning by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,576,405 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $288,332,000 after acquiring an additional 645,773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Owens Corning by 51.8% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,775,411 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $198,686,000 after acquiring an additional 605,926 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Owens Corning news, VP Mari Doerfler sold 1,926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.92, for a total value of $232,891.92. Following the sale, the vice president owned 3,093 shares in the company, valued at approximately $374,005.56. This represents a 38.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Rachel Barthelemy Marcon sold 700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.71, for a total transaction of $84,497.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 15,848 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,913,012.08. This represents a 4.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.92% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Owens Corning Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:OC opened at $143.27 on Friday. Owens Corning Inc has a 52-week low of $97.53 and a 52-week high of $159.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.54 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.30. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $127.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $121.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.27, a quick ratio of 0.74 and a current ratio of 1.24.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The construction company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $2.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.18 billion. Owens Corning had a positive return on equity of 19.86% and a negative net margin of 5.43%.The firm’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.97 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Owens Corning Inc will post 9.53 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Owens Corning Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 6th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 20th will be given a $0.79 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 20th. This represents a $3.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Owens Corning’s dividend payout ratio is currently -47.81%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on OC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Owens Corning from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Barclays upped their price target on Owens Corning from $135.00 to $144.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Owens Corning from $140.00 to $138.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Owens Corning from $136.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $154.08.

Owens Corning Company Profile

Owens Corning is a global leader in composite materials and building products, with a primary focus on insulation, roofing, and fiberglass composites. The company serves professional contractors, builders and industrial manufacturers by providing solutions designed to improve energy efficiency, structural performance and durability. Its products are used in residential, commercial, and industrial applications worldwide.

The company’s core product lines include fiberglass insulation for thermal and acoustic comfort, roofing shingles and underlayment systems engineered for weather protection, and advanced composite materials for markets such as wind energy, automotive, marine and infrastructure.