Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Shares Acquired by Advisors Preferred LLC

Advisors Preferred LLC raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 114.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 60,810 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,393 shares during the period. Advisors Preferred LLC owned about 0.05% of Commercial Metals worth $3,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of CMC. BlackRock Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 16,103,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $787,457,000 after acquiring an additional 272,913 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,226,374 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $550,481,000 after acquiring an additional 142,062 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 22.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,494,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $312,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,367,997 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,506,247 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $123,834,000 after acquiring an additional 527,709 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the 4th quarter valued at $114,477,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Commercial Metals news, Chairman Barbara Smith sold 57,194 shares of Commercial Metals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total transaction of $2,856,268.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 156,185 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,799,878.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Chairman Barbara Smith sold 57,194 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.94, for a total value of $2,856,268.36. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 156,185 shares in the company, valued at $7,799,878.90. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Lindsay L. Sloan sold 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.52, for a total value of $30,912.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $635,653.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 320,089 shares of company stock valued at $16,383,553. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Commercial Metals Stock Up 0.8 %

CMC stock traded up $0.46 on Friday, hitting $57.88. 492,253 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,042,761. Commercial Metals has a 12-month low of $39.85 and a 12-month high of $59.81. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $54.61 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $49.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 4.19. The stock has a market cap of $6.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 1.33.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The business's revenue was down 8.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Commercial Metals will post 5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st will be given a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 28th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.24%. This is a boost from Commercial Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Commercial Metals's payout ratio is currently 12.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on CMC. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Commercial Metals from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. UBS Group began coverage on Commercial Metals in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Commercial Metals currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $58.25.

Commercial Metals 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.