Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Price Target Lowered to $78.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) had its target price trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $83.00 to $78.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CMC. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Commercial Metals from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 price objective on Commercial Metals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. KeyCorp began coverage on Commercial Metals in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $71.50.

Commercial Metals Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NYSE CMC opened at $65.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a PE ratio of 14.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. Commercial Metals has a 52-week low of $41.17 and a 52-week high of $84.87. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $69.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $67.04.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.12). The firm had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.10 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 21.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.26 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Commercial Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $74.69 per share, with a total value of $149,380.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $689,986.22. This trade represents a 27.63% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer J. Durbin sold 25,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.97, for a total value of $2,003,248.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 52,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,228,813.60. The trade was a 32.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commercial Metals

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,361,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $440,341,000 after purchasing an additional 91,104 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,641,930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $208,629,000 after purchasing an additional 67,139 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,926,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $202,626,000 after purchasing an additional 86,749 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,823,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,474,000 after purchasing an additional 112,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,661,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $95,144,000 after purchasing an additional 76,365 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Commercial Metals Company Profile

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.