Wasatch Advisors LP Sells 65,155 Shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC)

Wasatch Advisors LP reduced its stake in shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 591,492 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 65,155 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned 0.52% of Commercial Metals worth $29,338,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CMC. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board lifted its holdings in Commercial Metals by 229.5% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 22,829 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,132,000 after purchasing an additional 15,901 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 24,735 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 24.5% during the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 262,511 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $13,020,000 after buying an additional 51,742 shares in the last quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC bought a new position in Commercial Metals in the 4th quarter worth $233,000. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 811.2% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,654 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $181,000 after buying an additional 3,253 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Commercial Metals from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 7th. BNP Paribas lowered Commercial Metals from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on Commercial Metals from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.33.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director John R. Mcpherson acquired 2,475 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $40.42 per share, for a total transaction of $100,039.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 15,141 shares of the company's stock, valued at $611,999.22. This represents a 19.54 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.46% of the company's stock.

Commercial Metals Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Commercial Metals stock traded up $0.83 on Tuesday, reaching $42.44. The company had a trading volume of 82,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 949,866. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $46.06 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.37. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.16. Commercial Metals has a 1 year low of $37.92 and a 1 year high of $64.53.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 1.70%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.70%. Commercial Metals's payout ratio is 120.00%.

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.