Brokerages Set Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) Price Target at $72.80

Shares of Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $72.80.

CMC has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $79.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th.

Commercial Metals Stock Up 0.3%

CMC opened at $66.51 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 4.47 and a quick ratio of 3.70. Commercial Metals has a 12 month low of $37.92 and a 12 month high of $84.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.47. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $75.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.28.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The basic materials company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 5.46%.Commercial Metals’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Investors of record on Monday, January 19th were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commercial Metals

In other Commercial Metals news, insider Jennifer J. Durbin sold 25,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.97, for a total transaction of $2,003,248.50. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 52,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,228,813.60. The trade was a 32.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $74.69 per share, for a total transaction of $149,380.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commercial Metals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals in the fourth quarter valued at about $103,962,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Commercial Metals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $70,402,000. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Commercial Metals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $54,394,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Commercial Metals during the 2nd quarter valued at $34,225,000. Finally, Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new position in Commercial Metals during the third quarter worth $26,847,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Commercial Metals Company Profile

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.