Commercial Metals Company $CMC Shares Sold by Panagora Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Panagora Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Commercial Metals Company by 14.6%, selling 11,128 shares in the first quarter, resulting in ownership of approximately 0.06% of the company's stock, valued at $2,989,000.
• Commercial Metals reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' expectations of $0.85, and had a revenue decline of 2.8% year-over-year with total revenue of $2.02 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.18 per share, with a high dividend payout ratio of 232.26%, indicating a substantial return to shareholders despite financial pressures.

Panagora Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 14.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,968 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 11,128 shares during the quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.06% of Commercial Metals worth $2,989,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 14.9% in the first 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. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 27.5% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,089,313 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $142,139,000 after purchasing an additional 666,886 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 86.1% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,587,259 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $73,030,000 after purchasing an additional 734,265 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 37.1% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,568,021 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $72,145,000 after purchasing an additional 424,313 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,262,895 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $62,640,000 after purchasing an additional 17,360 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

Shares of CMC traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $59.21. 957,817 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 848,895. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a PE ratio of 191.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.33. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $54.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.12. Commercial Metals Company has a 52-week low of $37.92 and a 52-week high of $64.53.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, June 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.85 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 7.45% and a net margin of 0.48%.The business's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Commercial Metals Company 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 Wednesday, July 9th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Commercial Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 232.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on CMC. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Commercial Metals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Friday, June 20th. Morgan Stanley set a $57.50 price target on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Wednesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price target (down from $57.00) on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Commercial Metals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.81.

Commercial Metals 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.