NEW YORK (AP) — KeyBanc Capital Markets downgraded Owens Corning, saying that while strong guidance for the year is likely from the construction and industrial materials company, most investors have already priced that in.
Almost every report on housing has suggested that a solid recovery is underway.
Shares of homebuilders in the past year have jumped between 50 percent and 135 percent and on Tuesday a report from CoreLogic, a real estate data provider, showed home prices last year jumping by the most in 6 ½ years in December.
Owens Corning, which makes insulation and roofing for both residential and industrial uses, has been a direct beneficiary. Its shares, which hit an all-time high last week, have risen 14 percent since the start of the year.
Keybanc analyst Kenneth Zener said that Owens isn't simply riding the housing wave, either. He points to recent 10 percent price increases for Owens' insulation and asphalt shingles.
And while Zener expects the company's 2013 guidance will prove that most of those price increases will stick, he believes that none of what is happening is lost on investors, who have already piled into the stock.
Zener lowered his rating from "buy," to "hold."
Company shares closed up more than 1 percent Thursday at $42.16, just 64 cents off the all-time high.
Owens, based in Toledo, Ohio, releases its full-year earnings report on Feb. 20.


