Stock Buyback Plan Initiated by Owens Corning (NYSE:OC)

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, May 14th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback 12,000,000 outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the construction company to reacquire shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Owens Corning Price Performance

OC opened at $142.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Owens Corning has a 52-week low of $123.41 and a 52-week high of $214.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $141.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $166.90. The company has a market cap of $12.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.88 and a beta of 1.44.

Owens Corning (NYSE:OC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The construction company reported $2.97 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.15. Owens Corning had a net margin of 9.92% and a return on equity of 25.82%. The company had revenue of $2.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $3.40 earnings per share. Owens Corning’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Owens Corning will post 15.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $235.00 to $218.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Owens Corning from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $200.00 to $176.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Owens Corning from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of Owens Corning in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $183.00 target price for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $189.45.

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.