Legal & General Group Plc Sells 40,924 Shares of Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Legal & General Group Plc cut its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) by 18.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 183,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 40,924 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Commercial Metals were worth $12,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 169.6% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its holdings in Commercial Metals by 110.7% during the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in Commercial Metals in the fourth quarter worth $54,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals in the third quarter valued at $73,000. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commercial Metals during the 4th quarter valued at $93,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Commercial Metals Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:CMC opened at $76.66 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $67.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $69.63. Commercial Metals Company has a 12-month low of $47.06 and a 12-month high of $84.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.12). Commercial Metals had a net margin of 6.02% and a return on equity of 13.54%. The company had revenue of $2.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.26 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 21.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals Company will post 6.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. This is a positive change from Commercial Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Commercial Metals from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research cut shares of Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $79.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.10.

Commercial Metals 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.