Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s What Happened

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $84.87 and last traded at $83.46, with a volume of 60576 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CMC. Citigroup boosted their target price on Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 target price on Commercial Metals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.70.

Commercial Metals Trading Up 0.8%

The firm has a market cap of $9.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.49. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $73.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 3.70 and a current ratio of 4.47.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The basic materials company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 5.46%.Commercial Metals’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 19th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is 18.56%.

Insider Activity at Commercial Metals

In related news, insider Jennifer J. Durbin sold 25,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.97, for a total value of $2,003,248.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 52,880 shares in the company, valued at $4,228,813.60. This trade represents a 32.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $74.69 per share, with a total value of $149,380.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,986.22. The trade was a 27.63% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commercial Metals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 169.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 282.3% in the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 42.4% during the third quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 110.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Commercial Metals

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE: CMC) is a leading global steel and metal recycler, manufacturer and fabricator based in Irving, Texas. The company operates an integrated network of scrap recycling facilities, electric arc furnace steel mills, metal fabrication plants and distribution centers. Through these operations, Commercial Metals collects and processes ferrous scrap to produce finished steel products and provides recycled metal to a variety of end markets.

In its steelmaking segment, CMC uses electric arc furnace technology to transform recycled scrap into reinforcing bar (rebar), merchant bar, coil and structural products.