The last days of August are seeing some real strength in share price at Mexican cement maker Cemex (NYSE: CX). From Aug. 19 through Wednesday's close, Cemex shares gained an impressive 9.4%, culminating in today's surge: another 9.5%, and this time in a single day!
Why is this happening? Two words: stock buybacks.
Cemex pays its shareholders a modest 1.5% dividend -- one way it returns cash to its shareholders. But now Cemex is also using stock buybacks as a second method, reducing its share count and concentrating profits among the fewer and fewer shares that remain outstanding.