Cerity Partners LLC Has $1.54 Million Holdings in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC)

Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) by 17.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 30,676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 4,489 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Commercial Metals were worth $1,535,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Preferred LLC increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 114.0% during the fourth quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 60,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,051,000 after purchasing an additional 32,393 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 118,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,950,000 after purchasing an additional 22,619 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 270.1% during the fourth quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 137,240 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,918,000 after purchasing an additional 100,160 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 91.3% during the third quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 91,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,528,000 after purchasing an additional 43,734 shares during the period. Finally, Pinkerton Retirement Specialists LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals during the third quarter valued at approximately $690,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:CMC opened at $55.21 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $55.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 1.33. Commercial Metals has a fifty-two week low of $39.85 and a fifty-two week high of $59.81.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.80 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 8.09%. Commercial Metals’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Commercial Metals will post 5.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This is a boost from Commercial Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Insider Transactions at Commercial Metals

In other news, CAO Lindsay L. Sloan sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.52, for a total transaction of $30,912.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,338 shares in the company, valued at $635,653.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CAO Lindsay L. Sloan sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.52, for a total transaction of $30,912.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $635,653.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Barbara Smith sold 60,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.28, for a total value of $3,085,312.48. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 96,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,923,854.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 120,089 shares of company stock worth $6,402,693. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on CMC. UBS Group initiated coverage on Commercial Metals in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Commercial Metals from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday.

About Commercial Metals

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.