Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Commercial Metals from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group started coverage on Commercial Metals in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a buy rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CMC traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $55.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 720,314 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,003,388. Commercial Metals has a fifty-two week low of $39.85 and a fifty-two week high of $59.81. The company has a market capitalization of $6.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.70 and a beta of 1.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 2.69. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $55.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.02.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.93 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 8.09%. Commercial Metals's revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Commercial Metals will post 5.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This is a boost from Commercial Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Commercial Metals's payout ratio is 12.50%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Chairman Barbara Smith sold 60,166 shares of Commercial Metals stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.28, for a total transaction of $3,085,312.48. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 96,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,923,854.32. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Commercial Metals news, CAO Lindsay L. Sloan sold 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.52, for a total value of $30,912.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $635,653.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Barbara Smith sold 60,166 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.28, for a total value of $3,085,312.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 96,019 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,923,854.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 120,089 shares of company stock worth $6,402,693 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,987 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $337,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 13,154 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 228 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 23,471 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 67,943 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,400,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,237 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company's stock.

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.