Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Given New $79.00 Price Target at Wells Fargo & Company

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) had its price target hoisted by equities research analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $68.00 to $79.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 11.64% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on CMC. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $70.00 to $78.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Citigroup upgraded Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, October 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Commercial Metals from $69.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $57.50 to $68.00 in a research report on Friday, October 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.50.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

NYSE:CMC traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $70.76. The stock had a trading volume of 450,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,100,198. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 93.10, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $56.34. Commercial Metals has a 1-year low of $37.92 and a 1-year high of $71.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.78 and a quick ratio of 2.03.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 16th. The basic materials company reported $1.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.05. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 8.76% and a net margin of 1.09%.The firm had revenue of $2.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.90 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Commercial Metals

In other news, Director John R. Mcpherson acquired 1,722 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $58.09 per share, for a total transaction of $100,030.98. Following the transaction, the director owned 6,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $390,480.98. This represents a 34.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of CMC. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,270,373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $359,167,000 after acquiring an additional 161,195 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 14.9% in the 1st quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,161,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $191,461,000 after purchasing an additional 539,309 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,193,930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $156,215,000 after purchasing an additional 290,256 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in Commercial Metals by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,823,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $104,474,000 after buying an additional 112,267 shares during the period. 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.