Insider Selling: Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) Insider Sells 17,450 Shares of Stock

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) insider Gunner Smith sold 17,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total value of $3,336,265.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 18,866 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,606,990.54. This represents a 48.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Owens Corning Price Performance

Shares of OC opened at $169.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.44. Owens Corning has a fifty-two week low of $138.70 and a fifty-two week high of $214.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $191.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $177.96. The company has a market capitalization of $14.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.42.

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

Owens Corning Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 6th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, January 6th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.63%. This is an increase from Owens Corning’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. Owens Corning’s dividend payout ratio is presently 23.49%.

Institutional Trading of Owens Corning

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Point72 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 168.3% during the second quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 741,262 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $128,772,000 after acquiring an additional 464,981 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Owens Corning by 38.9% in the 2nd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,592,536 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $276,655,000 after purchasing an additional 446,073 shares in the last quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Owens Corning by 2,813.6% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 378,856 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $65,815,000 after purchasing an additional 365,853 shares during the period. Goldentree Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Owens Corning during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,559,000. Finally, Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Owens Corning in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,970,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on OC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Owens Corning from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Barclays raised shares of Owens Corning from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $192.00 to $245.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Owens Corning from $197.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Owens Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Owens Corning from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.83.

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.