KBC Group NV Purchases 66,644 Shares of Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Key Points

• KBC Group NV sharply increased its stake in Commercial Metals, buying 66,644 shares in Q1 and lifting its holdings to 70,114 shares valued at about $4.3 million.
• Commercial Metals posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with earnings per share of $1.73 versus the $1.70 estimate and revenue of $2.48 billion, up 22.9% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall: the stock has a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $79.45, while CEO Peter R. Matt also recently bought 8,230 shares.

KBC Group NV boosted its position in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 1,920.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,114 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 66,644 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned 0.06% of Commercial Metals worth $4,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 90,989 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,186,000 after buying an additional 1,219 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its position in Commercial Metals by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 2,480 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $114,000 after buying an additional 291 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its position in Commercial Metals by 614.9% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 11,767 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $541,000 after buying an additional 10,121 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Commercial Metals by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,033,514 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $47,552,000 after acquiring an additional 56,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in Commercial Metals by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 53,305 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,453,000 after acquiring an additional 941 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CMC has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Commercial Metals from $80.00 to $77.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Commercial Metals from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Barclays started coverage on Commercial Metals in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Commercial Metals to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Commercial Metals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $79.45.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

CMC stock opened at $67.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $7.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.80, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. Commercial Metals Company has a 12-month low of $49.66 and a 12-month high of $84.87. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $70.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.51.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 6.72%.The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. The business's revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Commercial Metals Company will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 6th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Commercial Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Commercial Metals news, CEO Peter R. Matt bought 8,230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 10th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $61.30 per share, for a total transaction of $504,499.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 181,522 shares in the company, valued at $11,127,298.60. This trade represents a 4.75% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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