New York Life Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC)

New York Life Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 584 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Commercial Metals were worth $659,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Commercial Metals by 241.3% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809,841 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $90,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,617 shares in the last quarter. Cannell & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals in the fourth quarter worth about $370,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Commercial Metals by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 166,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,328,000 after buying an additional 27,919 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Commercial Metals by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 13,154 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $658,000 after buying an additional 228 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 146,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,327,000 after acquiring an additional 598 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on CMC. StockNews.com downgraded Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of 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, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commercial Metals

In other news, Chairman Barbara Smith sold 35,704 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.88, for a total value of $2,066,547.52. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 36,196 shares in the company, valued at $2,095,024.48. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

NYSE:CMC opened at $56.22 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.76 and a beta of 1.35. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.03. Commercial Metals has a 1 year low of $39.85 and a 1 year 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Commercial Metals will post 5.34 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.28%. This is an increase from Commercial Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. 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.