Russell Investments Group Ltd. Grows Stock Holdings in Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Key Points

• Russell Investments increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 14.1% in Q3 to 459,657 shares (0.41% of the company), valued at about $26.33 million.
• Commercial Metals beat expectations with Q results of $1.84 EPS (vs. $1.55) and $2.12B revenue (vs. $2.06B); analysts rate the stock a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $72.80, and institutions own roughly 86.9% of the shares.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 459,657 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 56,705 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.41% of Commercial Metals worth $26,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMC. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,109,178 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $299,898,000 after purchasing an additional 71,703 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 10.0% during the second quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,193,930 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $156,215,000 after purchasing an additional 290,256 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 6.6% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,823,923 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $104,474,000 after purchasing an additional 112,267 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,584,662 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $77,506,000 after purchasing an additional 16,641 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Commercial Metals in the 2nd quarter valued at $70,402,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

CMC opened at $61.78 on Friday. Commercial Metals Company has a 1-year low of $37.92 and a 1-year high of $84.87. The stock has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.92, a P/E/G ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.47. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $75.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 4.47 and a quick ratio of 3.70.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The basic materials company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.55 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $2.06 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 5.46%.Commercial Metals's revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Stockholders of record on Monday, January 19th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 16th. Commercial Metals's payout ratio is 18.56%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commercial Metals

In other Commercial Metals news, insider Jennifer J. Durbin sold 25,050 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.97, for a total transaction of $2,003,248.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 52,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,228,813.60. This trade represents a 32.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,000 shares of Commercial Metals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $74.69 per share, for a total transaction of $149,380.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,238 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $689,986.22. This represents a 27.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 0.62% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Commercial Metals from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 price target on shares of Commercial Metals and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 8th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, November 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $72.80.

Commercial Metals Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.