Ternium (NYSE:TX) Lowered to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of Ternium (NYSE:TX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

Ternium Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE TX traded up $0.44 during trading on Thursday, reaching $33.86. 119,798 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 206,820. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 2.92 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 84.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 1.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.82. Ternium has a 12-month low of $30.68 and a 12-month high of $44.44.

Ternium (NYSE:TX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $4.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.45 billion. Ternium had a net margin of 0.42% and a return on equity of 4.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.38 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ternium will post 3.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ternium Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a Semi-Annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 18th will be issued a $0.09 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 8.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 18th. Ternium’s dividend payout ratio is currently 1,100.03%.

Institutional Trading of Ternium

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ternium by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 3,196,107 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $133,021,000 after buying an additional 56,379 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ternium in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,353,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Ternium by 43.0% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 258,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,710,000 after purchasing an additional 77,800 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Ternium by 22.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 203,632 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,646,000 after purchasing an additional 36,722 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. boosted its stake in Ternium by 12.3% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 160,270 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,018,000 after purchasing an additional 17,552 shares in the last quarter. 11.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ternium

Ternium SA, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and distributes steel products in Mexico, Southern Region, Brazil, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Steel, Mining, and Usiminas. The Steel segment offers slabs, hot and cold rolled products, coated products, roll formed and tubular products, bars, billets, and other products.