Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 6,823 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $341,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of CMC. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Commercial Metals by 26.7% in the 3rd quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,506,247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $123,834,000 after purchasing an additional 527,709 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Commercial Metals by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,450,082 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $615,159,000 after purchasing an additional 487,792 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Commercial Metals by 32.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,385,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,454,000 after purchasing an additional 335,926 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Commercial Metals by 742.6% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 334,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,504,000 after purchasing an additional 294,383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd acquired a new position in Commercial Metals in the 3rd quarter worth about $8,320,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE CMC opened at $54.45 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 4.19. The firm has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.45 and a beta of 1.33. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $55.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.23. Commercial Metals has a 52 week low of $39.85 and a 52 week high of $59.81.

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

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. 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. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.50%.

Insider Activity at Commercial Metals

In related news, CAO Lindsay L. Sloan sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.52, for a total transaction of $30,912.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $635,653.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CAO Lindsay L. Sloan sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.52, for a total transaction of $30,912.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,338 shares in the company, valued at approximately $635,653.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Barbara Smith sold 23,619 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.65, for a total value of $1,219,921.35. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 72,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,739,460. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 120,089 shares of company stock worth $6,402,693 in the last 90 days. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on CMC shares. StockNews.com lowered Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Commercial Metals from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, March 22nd. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Commercial Metals in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock.

Commercial Metals 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.