Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Holdings Boosted by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its stake in shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 598 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Commercial Metals were worth $7,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in CMC. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Commercial Metals by 34.5% during the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 24,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 6,187 shares during the period. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Commercial Metals by 32.0% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 22,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,121,000 after buying an additional 5,495 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates boosted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 18.5% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 96,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after acquiring an additional 15,025 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 14.6% during the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 14,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $687,000 after acquiring an additional 1,843 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 8.7% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 673,916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,298,000 after acquiring an additional 53,996 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CMC shares. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Commercial Metals from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Barbara Smith sold 23,619 shares of Commercial Metals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total transaction of $1,219,921.35. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 72,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,739,460. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

CMC stock opened at $55.90 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.65. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.05). Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 8.09%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Commercial Metals will post 5.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Commercial Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.50%.

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.