Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Monday . The company traded as low as $148.73 and last traded at $148.37, with a volume of 607511 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $154.04.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on OC. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Owens Corning from $245.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $225.00 to $200.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Owens Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Owens Corning in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Owens Corning from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Owens Corning currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $207.00.

Owens Corning Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The firm has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $178.82.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 24th. The construction company reported $3.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.87 by $0.35. The company had revenue of $2.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.88 billion. Owens Corning had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 25.82%. Owens Corning’s revenue was up 23.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $3.21 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Owens Corning will post 15.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Owens Corning Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.69 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.86%. Owens Corning’s payout ratio is currently 37.70%.

Insider Activity at Owens Corning

In other news, insider Gunner Smith sold 17,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Monaco Nicolas Del sold 1,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.97, for a total transaction of $321,947.50. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 11,635 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,140,490.95. This trade represents a 13.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.89% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Owens Corning

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Owens Corning during the fourth quarter valued at $208,519,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Owens Corning by 113.9% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 797,743 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $140,818,000 after acquiring an additional 424,786 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 41.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,422,828 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $242,337,000 after acquiring an additional 414,770 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in shares of Owens Corning in the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,400,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Owens Corning during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,220,000. 88.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.