Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. reduced its stake in Commercial Metals Company by 18.2% during the first quarter, now holding approximately 1,032,679 shares valued at around $47.5 million.
• Several institutional investors, including American Century Companies Inc. and Pacer Advisors Inc., significantly increased their holdings in Commercial Metals, reflecting strong interest from the investment community.
• Commercial Metals reported a miss on earnings for the last quarter, with $0.74 EPS compared to analysts' expectations of $0.85, and posted a revenue of $2.02 billion, slightly below the forecast of $2.04 billion.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. decreased its stake in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 18.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,032,679 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 230,216 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned 0.91% of Commercial Metals worth $47,514,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of CMC. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 539,309 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 666,886 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 734,265 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in 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 buying an additional 424,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Commercial Metals by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 964,438 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $47,836,000 after buying an additional 104,071 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

CMC traded up $0.47 on Thursday, hitting $58.79. 298,386 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,080,448. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.00 and a current ratio of 2.86. The business's fifty day moving average is $54.63 and its 200 day moving average is $49.31. Commercial Metals Company has a fifty-two week low of $37.92 and a fifty-two week high of $64.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 189.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.33.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, June 23rd. The basic materials company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $2.04 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.02 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Commercial Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 232.26%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMC has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $57.50 price target on Commercial Metals in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and set a $55.00 price target (down previously from $57.00) on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Friday, June 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Commercial Metals to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Commercial Metals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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.