Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen brokerages that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $67.50.

CMC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Commercial Metals from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Commercial Metals from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $64.00 to $78.00 in a report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a report on Friday, October 17th.

Insider Activity

In other Commercial Metals news, Director John R. Mcpherson bought 1,722 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.09 per share, for a total transaction of $100,030.98. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 6,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $390,480.98. The trade was a 34.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Commercial Metals

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 718,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,063,000 after buying an additional 9,621 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. increased its holdings in Commercial Metals by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 12,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Commercial Metals during the first quarter worth $6,253,000. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Commercial Metals during the first quarter valued at $1,371,000. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.2% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 57,111 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,628,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CMC opened at $71.24 on Monday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.86. The stock has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 93.74, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Commercial Metals has a 12 month low of $37.92 and a 12 month high of $71.99.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 8.76%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 30th were given a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 30th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is 94.74%.

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.