Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its position in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,586,430 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 34,719 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.40% of Commercial Metals worth $72,992,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,055,150 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $201,178,000 after buying an additional 243,921 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,919,445 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $95,204,000 after buying an additional 893,094 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,754,840 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $87,040,000 after buying an additional 446,317 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,749,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $86,794,000 after buying an additional 162,201 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,576,316 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $78,185,000 after buying an additional 495,163 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CMC. Morgan Stanley set a $57.50 price target on shares of Commercial Metals in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, June 20th. BMO Capital Markets restated a "market perform" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (down previously from $57.00) on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Friday, June 20th. Finally, UBS Group restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Friday, June 20th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Commercial Metals has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $57.21.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of CMC stock traded up $0.47 on Friday, hitting $52.41. 831,851 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 994,330. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 169.06, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.26. Commercial Metals Company has a 52 week low of $37.92 and a 52 week high of $64.53. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $48.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 2.00.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $2.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.04 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 0.48% and a return on equity of 7.45%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.02 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Commercial Metals Company will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 9th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Commercial Metals's payout ratio 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.