Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Sets New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $79.64 and last traded at $79.7750, with a volume of 320672 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $76.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CMC has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $64.00 to $78.00 in a research note on Friday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 target price on Commercial Metals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Commercial Metals from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.70.

Commercial Metals Stock Up 0.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.49. The company has a current ratio of 4.47, a quick ratio of 3.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $71.96 and its 200 day moving average is $62.56.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 8th. The basic materials company reported $1.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 11.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Commercial Metals Company will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Commercial Metals news, Director Dennis V. Arriola purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of $74.69 per share, with a total value of $149,380.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 9,238 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $689,986.22. The trade was a 27.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer J. Durbin sold 25,050 shares of Commercial Metals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.97, for a total transaction of $2,003,248.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 52,880 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,228,813.60. This trade represents a 32.14% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commercial Metals

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of CMC. Drummond Knight Asset Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Commercial Metals in the 3rd quarter worth about $15,579,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Commercial Metals by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 225,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,312,000 after acquiring an additional 22,587 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 430.9% during the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 29,247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 23,738 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 3.4% in the second quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 251,468 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,299,000 after acquiring an additional 8,267 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 6.9% during the second quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 29,033 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,868 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Commercial Metals Company Profile

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.