Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Cut to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

CMC has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Zacks Research lowered Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Commercial Metals from $85.00 to $83.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 price objective on Commercial Metals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Commercial Metals in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $74.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $72.00.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMC opened at $61.29 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $70.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $66.74. The firm has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.47. Commercial Metals has a 52 week low of $38.02 and a 52 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 earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.16 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.54%. Commercial Metals’s quarterly revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Commercial Metals

In related news, insider Jennifer J. Durbin sold 25,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.97, for a total value of $2,003,248.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,000 shares of Commercial Metals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $74.69 per share, with a total value of $149,380.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 9,238 shares in the company, valued at $689,986.22. The trade was a 27.63% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMC. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Commercial Metals by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 90,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its stake in Commercial Metals by 13.3% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,480 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Commercial Metals by 614.9% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,767 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 10,121 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its stake in Commercial Metals by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,033,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,552,000 after purchasing an additional 56,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Commercial Metals by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 53,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,453,000 after buying an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is 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.