Citigroup Inc. Sells 78,546 Shares of Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Key Points

• Citigroup Inc. reduced its stake in Commercial Metals Company by 29.6% during the first quarter, now owning approximately 0.17% of the firm valued at about $8.6 million.
• Commercial Metals reported a missed earnings result for the quarter, with an EPS of $0.74, falling short of analysts' expectations of $0.85 and a year-over-year revenue decline of 2.8%.
• The company's recent dividend payout ratio stands at an extremely high 232.26%, with an annualized dividend yield of 1.3% after issuing $0.18 per share on July 9th.

Citigroup Inc. decreased its position in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 29.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 186,756 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 78,546 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. owned 0.17% of Commercial Metals worth $8,593,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 27.5% in the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,089,313 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $142,139,000 after buying an additional 666,886 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 34.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,754,840 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $87,040,000 after purchasing an additional 446,317 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,749,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $86,794,000 after purchasing an additional 162,201 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,262,895 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $62,640,000 after purchasing an additional 17,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 964,438 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $47,836,000 after purchasing an additional 104,071 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Commercial Metals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note 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. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reiterated a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (down from $57.00) on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.81.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

Commercial Metals stock traded down $0.1980 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $56.2220. The company's stock had a trading volume of 528,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 895,221. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $52.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $48.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.86. Commercial Metals Company has a 12-month low of $37.92 and a 12-month high of $64.53. The company has a market capitalization of $6.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 181.36, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.28.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.85 by ($0.11). Commercial Metals had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 7.45%. The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Commercial Metals Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Commercial Metals's payout ratio is currently 232.26%.

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.