Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.00.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 price target on shares of Commercial Metals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of Commercial Metals stock opened at $61.09 on Wednesday. Commercial Metals has a twelve month low of $38.38 and a twelve month high of $84.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.47.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.12). Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 13.54% and a net margin of 6.02%.The business had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.26 EPS. Commercial Metals’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a boost from Commercial Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.3%. Commercial Metals’s payout ratio is currently 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commercial Metals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in Commercial Metals by 30.6% during the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 38,839 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,686,000 after purchasing an additional 9,102 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its position in Commercial Metals by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $116,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its position in Commercial Metals by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 23,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,635,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Commercial Metals by 617.2% during the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in Commercial Metals by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.