Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Sets New 52-Week High – What’s Next?

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $84.87 and last traded at $83.46, with a volume of 60576 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $83.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMC has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 price target on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, November 28th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $64.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.70.

Commercial Metals Trading Down 3.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 4.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $63.70.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last issued its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 11.43% and a net margin of 5.46%.The company’s revenue was up 11.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Commercial Metals Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Commercial Metals

In other Commercial Metals news, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $74.69 per share, for a total transaction of $149,380.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 9,238 shares in the company, valued at approximately $689,986.22. This trade represents a 27.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer J. Durbin sold 25,050 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $4,228,813.60. This represents a 32.14% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Commercial Metals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Commercial Metals during the third quarter worth $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in Commercial Metals by 169.6% in the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Commercial Metals by 110.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 42.4% during the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 282.3% during the second quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

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.