Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Rating Increased to Buy at Citigroup

Citigroup upgraded shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $65.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their previous target price of $60.00.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on CMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $54.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 13th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $57.50 price objective on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 19th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Commercial Metals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $61.75.

Commercial Metals Stock Up 3.7%

CMC stock opened at $57.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 2.78, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. Commercial Metals has a 12 month low of $37.92 and a 12 month high of $64.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $57.86 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.40.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.37 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.10 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 1.09% and a return on equity of 8.76%. 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 business earned $0.90 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.74%.

Institutional Trading of Commercial Metals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 7,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 64.9% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 6,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $366,000 after acquiring an additional 2,516 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals in the 3rd quarter valued at $845,000. Green Alpha Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 20,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in Commercial Metals in the 3rd quarter valued at $15,579,000. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

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.