SEB Asset Management AB Makes New Investment in Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Key Points

• SEB Asset Management AB disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Commercial Metals, buying 145,809 shares valued at about $8.96 million. Institutional ownership remains high, with funds holding the vast majority of the stock.
• Commercial Metals reported strong quarterly results, posting EPS of $1.73 versus estimates of $1.70 and revenue of $2.48 billion, up 22.9% year over year. Analysts now expect the company to earn 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.20 per share, or $0.80 annualized, yielding about 1.2%. Meanwhile, CEO Peter R. Matt bought 8,230 shares, signaling insider confidence in the stock.

SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 145,809 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $8,957,000. SEB Asset Management AB owned approximately 0.13% of Commercial Metals at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 90,989 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,186,000 after purchasing an additional 1,219 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Commercial Metals by 13.3% in 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 holdings in Commercial Metals by 614.9% in 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. increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 5.8% in 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 buying an additional 56,875 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake 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 worth $2,453,000 after buying an additional 941 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Peter R. Matt bought 8,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $61.30 per share, for a total transaction of $504,499.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 181,522 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,127,298.60. The trade was a 4.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Commercial Metals Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of Commercial Metals stock opened at $67.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $7.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a PEG ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.54. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $70.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $70.54. 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 twelve month low of $49.66 and a twelve month high of $84.87.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 EPS 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 company had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals Company will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on CMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Commercial Metals from $83.00 to $78.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. UBS Group upgraded Commercial Metals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. Barclays started coverage on Commercial Metals in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America dropped their price target on Commercial Metals from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Commercial Metals from a "buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Commercial Metals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $79.45.

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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