Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Upgraded by UBS Group to Neutral Rating

UBS Group upgraded shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. UBS Group currently has $54.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $56.00.

A number of other brokerages have also commented on CMC. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Commercial Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Commercial Metals from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. BNP Paribas lowered Commercial Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.83.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

NYSE CMC opened at $47.02 on Friday. Commercial Metals has a 1-year low of $45.50 and a 1-year high of $64.53. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.61 and a 200-day moving average of $54.87. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $5.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.36, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.19.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, January 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 6.13%. The business’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Commercial Metals will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.53%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 17.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commercial Metals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Commercial Metals by 0.4% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,830,412 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $320,439,000 after purchasing an additional 24,665 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,839,601 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $156,093,000 after buying an additional 28,019 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,176,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $119,646,000 after buying an additional 41,206 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Commercial Metals by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,714,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $94,208,000 after buying an additional 17,931 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Commercial Metals by 1.3% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,462,317 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $80,369,000 after acquiring an additional 18,262 shares in the last quarter. 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.