Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Stock Price

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) had its target price cut by Morgan Stanley from $56.00 to $53.00 in a research note published on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

CMC has been the topic of several other research reports. BNP Paribas cut shares of Commercial Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.83.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

CMC stock opened at $45.85 on Friday. Commercial Metals has a 12-month low of $43.81 and a 12-month high of $64.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $49.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $53.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.30, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.17.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.78. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 1.70% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share. Commercial Metals’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th were paid a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.57%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.86%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cim LLC lifted its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Cim LLC now owns 41,784 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,072,000 after buying an additional 744 shares in the last quarter. Park Square Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,475,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC lifted its position in Commercial Metals by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 8,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $445,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

About Commercial Metals

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.