Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 398,076 Shares of Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) by 31.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 870,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 398,076 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.78% of Commercial Metals worth $53,469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Commercial Metals by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 90,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,186,000 after buying an additional 1,219 shares during the period. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 13.3% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 2,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $114,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 614.9% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 10,121 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 5.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,033,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,552,000 after acquiring an additional 56,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.8% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 53,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Commercial Metals

In other Commercial Metals news, CEO Peter R. Matt acquired 8,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $61.30 per share, with a total value of $504,499.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 181,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,127,298.60. The trade was a 4.75% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on CMC shares. Barclays started coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $83.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.45.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of CMC stock opened at $66.44 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $70.48 and its 200 day moving average is $70.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.54. Commercial Metals Company has a twelve month low of $49.66 and a twelve month high of $84.87.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 6.72%.The business had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Commercial Metals Company will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 6th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 6th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.07%.

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.