Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and eight have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $72.70.

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CMC shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 target price on shares of Commercial Metals and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 8th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Commercial Metals from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

NYSE:CMC opened at $82.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.38, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $73.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $63.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 4.47 and a quick ratio of 3.70. Commercial Metals has a 1 year low of $37.92 and a 1 year high of $84.12.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The basic materials company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.29. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 5.46%.The company had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.78 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 19th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.56%.

Insider Transactions at Commercial Metals

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arista Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals in the fourth quarter worth $346,000. 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 worth $202,626,000 after acquiring an additional 86,749 shares during the last quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 340.5% in the 4th quarter. Jackson Creek Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,520 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,251,000 after acquiring an additional 25,137 shares in the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 18.7% during the 4th quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 7,195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Genus Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter worth about $4,531,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.