Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Hits New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $75.23 and last traded at $74.5260, with a volume of 85129 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $74.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on CMC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 price objective on Commercial Metals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Commercial Metals from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Monday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Commercial Metals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.70.

Commercial Metals Stock Up 0.7%

The company has a quick ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 4.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market cap of $8.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.18, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.49. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $59.78.

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

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 19th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 16th. Commercial Metals’s payout ratio is presently 18.56%.

Insider Activity at Commercial Metals

In other news, Director John R. Mcpherson bought 1,722 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 20th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $58.09 per share, with a total value of $100,030.98. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commercial Metals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Commercial Metals by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,270,373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $359,167,000 after purchasing an additional 161,195 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 67,139 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Commercial Metals by 6.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,823,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,474,000 after buying an additional 112,267 shares during 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 buying an additional 76,365 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

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.