Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Stock Gets Price Target Trim from Morgan Stanley

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $88.00 to $84.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane raised Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, October 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $83.00 to $80.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 9th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Commercial Metals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $78.73.

Commercial Metals Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE CMC opened at $64.25 on Monday. Commercial Metals has a 12 month low of $55.97 and a 12 month high of $84.87. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $66.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $68.40. The company has a current ratio of 2.34, a quick ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.71. The company has a market capitalization of $7.07 billion, a PE ratio of 10.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.77 and a beta of 1.53.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 15th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.95 by $0.14. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 17.00% and a net margin of 6.98%. The firm had revenue of $2.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.37 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Commercial Metals will post 7.07 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 11th. Investors of record on Wednesday, October 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, October 28th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.63%.

Commercial Metals announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Wednesday, August 5th that allows the company to buy back $600.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to repurchase up to 7.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Share buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Commercial Metals news, Director John McPherson bought 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $71.92 per share, with a total value of $99,968.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 21,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,576,989.84. The trade was a 6.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commercial Metals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 7.3% during the third quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 7,228 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $468,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $423,000. Peirce Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Peirce Capital Management LLC now owns 11,241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 56.3% during the 3rd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 36,016 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,237,000 after purchasing an additional 12,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SummerHaven Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 14,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Commercial Metals Company Profile

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) is a steel and metals manufacturer, recycler and fabricator headquartered in Irving, Texas. The company produces and sells steel products used in construction, infrastructure and industrial applications, including reinforcing bar, wire rod, merchant bar, structural steel and related products.

CMC operates an integrated recycling and manufacturing model. Its recycling facilities collect and process ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal, which is used as raw material in the company’s electric-arc-furnace steel mills.