USG (USG) Lifted to “Overweight” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

USG (NYSE:USG) was upgraded by equities researchers at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research note issued to investors on Friday. The brokerage currently has a $38.00 price target on the construction company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s price target suggests a potential downside of 6.27% from the company’s current price.

USG has been the topic of several other reports. ValuEngine upgraded USG from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 27th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $34.00 target price (up from $31.00) on shares of USG in a research note on Monday, October 9th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded USG from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on USG from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 12th. Finally, SunTrust Banks downgraded USG from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $33.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. They noted that the move was a valuation call. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. USG currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $35.21.

Shares of USG (NYSE USG) traded up $2.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.54. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,126,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 971,018. USG has a one year low of $25.60 and a one year high of $41.18. The stock has a market cap of $5,377.45, a P/E ratio of 12.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 2.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.54.

USG (NYSE:USG) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The construction company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.47. USG had a return on equity of 12.90% and a net margin of 14.93%. The company had revenue of $795.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $790.54 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.46 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.7% on a year-over-year basis. research analysts expect that USG will post 1.67 EPS for the current year.

In related news, insider Joseph W. Holmes sold 2,570 shares of USG stock in a transaction on Monday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.26, for a total transaction of $98,328.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Brian J. Cook sold 30,000 shares of USG stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.58, for a total value of $1,037,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 84,538 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,923,324.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 58,992 shares of company stock worth $2,131,270. Company insiders own 0.67% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LSV Asset Management raised its holdings in shares of USG by 5.5% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 757,318 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $21,977,000 after acquiring an additional 39,500 shares during the last quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of USG by 2.2% in the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 190,100 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $6,207,000 after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of USG in the second quarter worth $5,467,000. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of USG by 27.2% in the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 15,920 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $462,000 after acquiring an additional 3,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beck Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of USG in the third quarter worth $327,000. 85.76% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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USG Company Profile

USG Corporation, through its subsidiaries, is a manufacturer and distributor of building materials. The Company’s segments include Gypsum, Ceilings and USG Boral Building Products (UBBP). It produces a range of products for use in new residential, new nonresidential, and residential and nonresidential repair and remodel construction, as well as products used in certain industrial processes.

Analyst Recommendations for USG (NYSE:USG)