Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.50.

A number of research analysts have commented on CMC shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Commercial Metals from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $57.50 to $68.00 in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $70.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMC opened at $69.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The business has a 50-day moving average of $62.17 and a 200-day moving average of $57.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 91.47, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.49. Commercial Metals has a fifty-two week low of $37.92 and a fifty-two week high of $71.99.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 1.09%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 30th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 30th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Commercial Metals’s payout ratio is 94.74%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commercial Metals

In related news, Director John R. Mcpherson purchased 1,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $58.09 per share, with a total value of $100,030.98. Following the acquisition, the director owned 6,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $390,480.98. This trade represents a 34.44% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Commercial Metals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals during the third quarter worth $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in Commercial Metals by 169.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its holdings in Commercial Metals by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its position in Commercial Metals by 282.3% in the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Commercial Metals by 51.4% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 890 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

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.