Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Key Points

• Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Commercial Metals Company by 14.9%, purchasing an additional 539,309 shares, bringing their total holdings to 4,161,292 shares.
• Commercial Metals Company reported a quarterly EPS of $0.74, which fell short of analysts' expectations, and their revenue decreased by 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year.
• Several institutional investors, including Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC and SG Americas Securities LLC, also increased their holdings in Commercial Metals during the 1st quarter, reflecting growing interest in the company.

Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 14.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,161,292 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 539,309 shares during the period. Commercial Metals comprises approximately 0.7% of Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 3.68% of Commercial Metals worth $191,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Isthmus Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Isthmus Partners LLC now owns 7,381 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $340,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Choreo LLC increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 11,015 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 24,735 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,227,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 80.3% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 548 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 51.9% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 784 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 268 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on CMC shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised Commercial Metals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. UBS Group raised their target price on Commercial Metals from $48.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 13th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 target price (down from $57.00) on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Commercial Metals from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Commercial Metals from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.81.

Commercial Metals Trading Up 4.7%

Shares of NYSE:CMC traded up $2.6420 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $58.9520. 1,097,630 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 866,948. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $52.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.67. 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 cap of $6.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 190.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.28. Commercial Metals Company has a fifty-two week low of $37.92 and a fifty-two week high of $64.53.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $2.04 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 7.45% and a net margin of 0.48%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Commercial Metals Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Commercial Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 232.26%.

Commercial Metals Company 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.