Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Stock Price Breaks Above Fifty Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC)’s share price crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $65.44 and traded as high as $66.30. Commercial Metals shares last traded at $65.5420, with a volume of 1,050,976 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Commercial Metals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Commercial Metals from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. Barclays dropped their price target on Commercial Metals from $80.00 to $72.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Commercial Metals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.73.

Commercial Metals Stock Up 2.2%

The company has a market capitalization of $7.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.80 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $69.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 2.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 15th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.95 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $2.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.56 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 6.98%. Commercial Metals’s quarterly revenue was up 25.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Commercial Metals Company will post 6.95 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 11th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 28th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.63%.

Commercial Metals announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to buy back $600 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commercial Metals

In other news, Director John McPherson bought 1,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $71.92 per share, with a total value of $99,968.80. Following the purchase, the director owned 21,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,576,989.84. This represents a 6.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 20,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Isthmus Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 6,301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $391,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas boosted its stake in Commercial Metals by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 496 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Koshinski Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 8.5% during the first quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $203,000 after acquiring an additional 258 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Commercial Metals

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) is a steel and metals manufacturer, recycler and fabricator headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company produces and sells steel products used in construction, infrastructure and industrial applications, including reinforcing bar, wire rod, merchant bar, structural steel and related products.

CMC operates an integrated recycling and manufacturing model. Its recycling facilities collect and process ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal, which is used as raw material in the company’s electric-arc-furnace steel mills.