Barclays Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Stock

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) had its price target increased by equities research analysts at Barclays from $72.00 to $77.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 23.49% from the company’s previous close.

CMC has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Friday, October 16th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Commercial Metals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Commercial Metals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $79.18.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CMC traded down $1.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $62.35. The stock had a trading volume of 134,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,192,151. The company has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.62, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71, a current ratio of 2.34 and a quick ratio of 1.66. Commercial Metals has a twelve month low of $57.01 and a twelve month high of $84.87. The business’s fifty day moving average is $64.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.70.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 15th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.14. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 6.98%. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.37 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Commercial Metals will post 6.69 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, August 5th that permits the company to repurchase $600 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commercial Metals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals in the second quarter valued at $954,989,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Commercial Metals by 87.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,631,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,205,000 after purchasing an additional 760,985 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 977,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $60,019,000 after purchasing an additional 8,911 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Commercial Metals by 180.2% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 786,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $49,330,000 after purchasing an additional 505,599 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in Commercial Metals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $36,800,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Commercial Metals Company Profile

Commercial Metals Company (CMC) is a metals recycling, manufacturing and construction-services company. Its operations span the collection and processing of ferrous and nonferrous scrap, which can be used as raw material for steelmaking, and the production of steel and other metal products. CMC manufactures products including reinforcing bar, merchant bar, wire rod and other steel products used in construction and industrial applications. The company also provides construction-related products and services, including steel fabrication and engineered solutions for infrastructure projects.