Analysts Set Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) Target Price at $72.70

Shares of Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the twelve analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $72.70.

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on CMC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $64.00 to $78.00 in a research report on Friday, December 5th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research lowered shares of Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Dennis V. Arriola acquired 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $74.69 per share, for a total transaction of $149,380.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 9,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,986.22. This trade represents a 27.63% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer J. Durbin sold 25,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.97, for a total value of $2,003,248.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 52,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,228,813.60. This trade represents a 32.14% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commercial Metals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the 3rd quarter valued at $15,579,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Commercial Metals by 11.1% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 225,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,312,000 after purchasing an additional 22,587 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its stake in Commercial Metals by 430.9% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 29,247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after buying an additional 23,738 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its holdings in Commercial Metals by 6.9% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 29,033 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,420,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 393,334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,238,000 after buying an additional 5,147 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

NYSE:CMC opened at $79.72 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 3.70 and a current ratio of 4.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $74.10 and its 200-day moving average is $63.70. Commercial Metals has a 52-week low of $37.92 and a 52-week high of $84.87. The company has a market cap of $8.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.49.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The basic materials company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 5.46%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.78 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 2nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, January 19th were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 16th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.56%.

About Commercial Metals

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.