Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $71.50.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $80.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Commercial Metals from $83.00 to $78.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th.

Commercial Metals Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:CMC opened at $68.54 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.60 billion, a PE ratio of 15.26, a P/E/G ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.49. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $66.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.75. Commercial Metals has a fifty-two week low of $44.67 and a fifty-two week 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.

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 net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.26 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals will post 6.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is an increase from Commercial Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 6th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.04%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer J. Durbin sold 25,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 52,880 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Commercial Metals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 11.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 225,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,312,000 after acquiring an additional 22,587 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 430.9% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 29,247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 23,738 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 6.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,823,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $104,474,000 after acquiring an additional 112,267 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the third quarter worth approximately $910,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the third quarter worth approximately $821,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by 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.