Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $200.83.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on OC. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Owens Corning from $197.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $189.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Owens Corning from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $195.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Owens Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Gunner Smith sold 17,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.19, for a total transaction of $3,336,265.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 18,866 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,606,990.54. This trade represents a 48.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.89% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Owens Corning

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OC. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Owens Corning by 147.4% in the 3rd quarter. Alpha DNA Investment Management LLC now owns 4,270 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $754,000 after buying an additional 2,544 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc lifted its stake in Owens Corning by 93.3% in the third quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 13,200 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $2,330,000 after acquiring an additional 6,373 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Owens Corning during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,046,000. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Owens Corning by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 196,672 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $34,717,000 after purchasing an additional 5,916 shares during the period. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Owens Corning during the 2nd quarter valued at about $3,598,000. 88.40% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Owens Corning Stock Up 0.9 %

OC opened at $170.91 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $14.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $190.93 and its 200 day moving average is $177.89. Owens Corning has a fifty-two week low of $138.70 and a fifty-two week high of $214.53.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The construction company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.33. Owens Corning had a return on equity of 25.82% and a net margin of 9.92%. The business had revenue of $3.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.15 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Owens Corning will post 15.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.61%. This is a positive change from Owens Corning’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. Owens Corning’s payout ratio is presently 23.49%.

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.