Verity Asset Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,953 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,073 shares during the period. Commercial Metals accounts for 0.9% of Verity Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Verity Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Commercial Metals were worth $1,954,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of CMC. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Commercial Metals in the first quarter valued at $44,345,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 4,372.6% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 759,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,944,000 after purchasing an additional 742,503 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 86.1% in the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,587,259 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $73,030,000 after purchasing an additional 734,265 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,089,313 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $142,139,000 after purchasing an additional 666,886 shares during the period. Finally, Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,161,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $191,461,000 after purchasing an additional 539,309 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CMC. Morgan Stanley upgraded Commercial Metals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $57.50 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, October 24th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Commercial Metals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director John R. Mcpherson acquired 1,722 shares of Commercial Metals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $58.09 per share, for a total transaction of $100,030.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,722 shares in the company, valued at approximately $390,480.98. This trade represents a 34.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMC opened at $59.43 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $58.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.90. Commercial Metals Company has a 1-year low of $37.92 and a 1-year high of $64.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The company has a market cap of $6.59 billion, a PE ratio of 78.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.94 and a beta of 1.32.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The company had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.90 EPS. Commercial Metals’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Commercial Metals Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 30th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.74%.

Commercial Metals Profile

Commercial Metals Company manufactures, recycles, and fabricates steel and metal products, and related materials and services in the United States, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through two segments, North America and Europe. The company processes and sells ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals to steel mills and foundries, aluminum sheet and ingot manufacturers, brass and bronze ingot makers, copper refineries and mills, secondary lead smelters, specialty steel mills, high temperature alloy manufacturers, and other consumers.