Barclays Upgrades Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) to “Overweight”

Barclays upgraded shares of Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. Barclays currently has $245.00 target price on the construction company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $192.00.

OC has been the topic of several other reports. UBS Group increased their target price on Owens Corning from $197.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $178.00 to $198.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Owens Corning from $175.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. StockNews.com raised shares of Owens Corning from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $213.00 to $217.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Owens Corning currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $198.33.

Owens Corning Stock Down 1.5 %

Owens Corning stock opened at $191.41 on Wednesday. Owens Corning has a fifty-two week low of $138.70 and a fifty-two week high of $214.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $191.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $177.95. 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 (NYSE:OC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The construction company reported $4.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.05 by $0.33. The firm had revenue of $3.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.04 billion. Owens Corning had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 25.82%. Owens Corning’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.15 EPS. Analysts predict that Owens Corning will post 15.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Owens Corning Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Monday, January 6th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. This is a boost from Owens Corning’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.60. The ex-dividend date is Monday, January 6th. Owens Corning’s dividend payout ratio is 23.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Marcio A. Sandri sold 3,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.50, for a total transaction of $538,501.50. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 57,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,074,443.50. The trade was a 5.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Owens Corning

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Owens Corning during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Tobam boosted its position in Owens Corning by 115.7% in the 2nd quarter. Tobam now owns 192 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in shares of Owens Corning during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 165.5% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 231 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Owens Corning by 46.2% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 367 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.40% of the company’s stock.

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.