Teacher Retirement System of Texas Reduces Stock Holdings in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas reduced its position in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 37.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,898 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 24,898 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Commercial Metals were worth $2,047,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Advisors Preferred LLC grew its holdings in Commercial Metals by 114.0% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Preferred LLC now owns 60,810 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,051,000 after purchasing an additional 32,393 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in Commercial Metals by 23.5% during the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 118,904 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,950,000 after buying an additional 22,619 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale increased its position in Commercial Metals by 270.1% during the 4th quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 137,240 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,918,000 after buying an additional 100,160 shares in the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC increased its position in Commercial Metals by 91.3% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 91,634 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,528,000 after buying an additional 43,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. raised its stake in Commercial Metals by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 260,740 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $13,047,000 after buying an additional 5,972 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on CMC shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com raised Commercial Metals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:CMC traded down $0.27 during trading on Friday, reaching $57.60. 420,904 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 925,482. The company has a quick ratio of 2.69, a current ratio of 4.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Commercial Metals has a fifty-two week low of $39.85 and a fifty-two week high of $59.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.65. The firm has a market cap of $6.66 billion, a PE ratio of 10.05 and a beta of 1.35.

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

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.25%. This is an increase from Commercial Metals's previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. Commercial Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 12.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commercial Metals

In other Commercial Metals news, Chairman Barbara Smith sold 35,704 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.88, for a total transaction of $2,066,547.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 36,196 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,095,024.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 1.00% of the company's stock.

About Commercial Metals

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.