CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,410,000 shares, a growth of 27.4% from the December 15th total of 10,530,000 shares. Approximately 0.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 10,590,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CX. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of CEMEX in the second quarter worth $81,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CEMEX by 45.1% in the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 44,305 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 13,766 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of CEMEX by 2.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 433,336 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,769,000 after purchasing an additional 9,281 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of CEMEX by 53.2% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 425,657 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,720,000 after purchasing an additional 147,773 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CEMEX in the second quarter worth $129,000. 82.97% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CEMEX Stock Performance

Shares of CX stock traded down $0.10 during 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 quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.76 billion, a PE ratio of 17.85 and a beta of 1.49. CEMEX has a twelve month low of $5.00 and a twelve month high of $9.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $5.59 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.94.

CEMEX Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 10th were issued a $0.0207 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 10th. CEMEX’s dividend payout ratio is 20.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. StockNews.com cut CEMEX from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut CEMEX from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $7.00 to $6.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on CEMEX from $10.00 to $8.90 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on CEMEX from $9.00 to $8.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut CEMEX from a “sector perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $6.00 to $5.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average 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.