Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Cuts Stock Holdings in Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Key Points

• Wedge Capital Management reduced its Commercial Metals stake by 16.1% in the second quarter, selling 25,346 shares and retaining 132,173 shares valued at approximately $8.3 million. Institutional investors collectively own 86.9% of CMC.
• Commercial Metals reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $1.73 versus the $1.70 consensus and revenue of $2.48 billion, up 22.9% year over year. The company also authorized a $600 million share-buyback program covering up to 7.5% of outstanding shares.
• CMC shares opened at $72.13, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $81.18. CEO Peter R. Matt also purchased 8,230 shares, increasing his direct ownership by 4.75%.

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lowered its position in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 16.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 132,173 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 25,346 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.12% of Commercial Metals worth $8,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP lifted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 118.6% during the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 49,885 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,453,000 after buying an additional 27,062 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its holdings in Commercial Metals by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 277,877 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $17,070,000 after acquiring an additional 28,693 shares during the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Commercial Metals in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,600,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in Commercial Metals by 87.4% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,631,213 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $100,205,000 after acquiring an additional 760,985 shares during the period. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP purchased a new stake in Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter valued at about $103,962,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Commercial Metals news, CEO Peter R. Matt bought 8,230 shares of Commercial Metals stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 181,522 shares in the company, valued at $11,127,298.60. This represents a 4.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

Commercial Metals stock opened at $72.13 on Thursday. Commercial Metals Company has a 1-year low of $53.08 and a 1-year high of $84.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 1.52. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $69.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.20.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Commercial Metals Company will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to buyback $600.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to reacquire up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 1.1%. Commercial Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.07%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CMC. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $81.18.

Commercial Metals 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.

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