Lazard Asset Management LLC Has $19.41 Million Stock Position in CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX) by 32.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,154,254 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 1,050,812 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in CEMEX were worth $19,409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CX. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in CEMEX by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 21,127 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $190,000 after buying an additional 1,358 shares during the period. Aprio Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in CEMEX by 8.9% in the first quarter. Aprio Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,558 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,431 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in CEMEX by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 14,006 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,443 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in CEMEX by 75.0% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,514 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. lifted its stake in CEMEX by 6.3% during the first quarter. Thompson Davis & CO. Inc. now owns 26,800 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 82.97% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on CX. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on CEMEX in a report on Tuesday, May 14th. They set an “underperform” rating and a $9.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded CEMEX from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on CEMEX from $9.50 to $8.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of CEMEX in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of CEMEX from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $9.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, CEMEX presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $8.78.

CEMEX Price Performance

CEMEX stock opened at $6.42 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.53. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $6.71 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $7.64. CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. has a 52 week low of $5.67 and a 52 week high of $9.27. The stock has a market cap of $9.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.86 and a beta of 1.47.

CEMEX (NYSE:CX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The construction company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.13 by $0.04. CEMEX had a return on equity of 1.66% and a net margin of 1.05%. The company had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.15 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that CEMEX, S.A.B. de C.V. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current year.

CEMEX Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a Variable dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.349 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. CEMEX’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 14.29%.

CEMEX Profile

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.