Smith Group Asset Management LLC Acquires New Position in Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 11,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $708,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the second quarter valued at $954,989,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 87.4% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,631,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,205,000 after purchasing an additional 760,985 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 0.9% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 977,024 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $60,019,000 after purchasing an additional 8,911 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 180.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 786,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,330,000 after purchasing an additional 505,599 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals during the second quarter valued at $36,800,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Commercial Metals news, Director John McPherson bought 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $71.92 per share, for a total transaction of $99,968.80. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 21,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,576,989.84. This trade represents a 6.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 17th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $75.00 to $73.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.73.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

Shares of Commercial Metals stock opened at $64.10 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $7.05 billion, a PE ratio of 10.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.53. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $65.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.29. 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 Company has a 12 month low of $55.97 and a 12 month high of $84.87.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 15th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.37 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals Company will post 7.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $600 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

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

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.