Prudential Financial Inc. Decreases Holdings in Owens Corning (NYSE:OC)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) by 77.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 29,656 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 103,734 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Owens Corning were worth $5,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised 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 buying an additional 424,786 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Owens Corning during the fourth quarter worth $51,220,000. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in shares of Owens Corning by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,148,610 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $366,166,000 after purchasing an additional 238,694 shares during the period. LGT Group Foundation purchased a new position in shares of Owens Corning in the fourth quarter valued at $39,054,000. Finally, State Street Corp increased its stake in Owens Corning by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,181,421 shares of the construction company’s stock worth $738,104,000 after buying an additional 187,001 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.40% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Owens Corning

In other news, insider Monaco Nicolas Del sold 1,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $183.97, for a total transaction of $321,947.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 11,635 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,140,490.95. This represents a 13.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.82% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on OC shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $245.00 to $215.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Loop Capital reduced their price target on Owens Corning from $215.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Owens Corning from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Owens Corning from $200.00 to $176.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Owens Corning from $245.00 to $235.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $204.18.

Owens Corning Stock Performance

Shares of OC opened at $142.81 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.22 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.52. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $163.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $176.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Owens Corning has a 12-month low of $137.50 and a 12-month high of $214.53.

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

Owens Corning Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.69 per share. This represents a $2.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. Owens Corning’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.70%.

Owens Corning Profile

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.