Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Director John R. Mcpherson Acquires 2,475 Shares of Stock

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Director John R. Mcpherson bought 2,475 shares of Commercial Metals stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $40.42 per share, for a total transaction of $100,039.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,141 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $611,999.22. This represents a 19.54 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

CMC stock opened at $40.53 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $52.38. Commercial Metals has a 12-month low of $37.92 and a 12-month high of $64.53. The firm has a market cap of $4.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.05). Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 1.70%. The business had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.78%. Commercial Metals’s payout ratio is currently 120.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commercial Metals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Commercial Metals by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,081,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $59,420,000 after purchasing an additional 66,092 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Commercial Metals by 1.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,714,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $94,208,000 after buying an additional 17,931 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Commercial Metals by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 71,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after buying an additional 28,297 shares during the last quarter. Vestcor Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 108.0% during the third quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 18,103 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $995,000 after acquiring an additional 9,400 shares during the period. Finally, Covea Finance grew its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Covea Finance now owns 62,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,075,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 21st. UBS Group reduced their price target on Commercial Metals from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Commercial Metals from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. BNP Paribas lowered Commercial Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Commercial Metals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.33.

Commercial Metals Company Profile

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.