Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 32,928 Shares of Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its position in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) by 21.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 121,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 32,928 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in Commercial Metals were worth $8,419,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Vestcor Inc bought a new stake in Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter valued at about $605,000. Pinebridge Investments LLC bought a new stake in Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,232,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Commercial Metals by 30.3% during the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 2,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $157,000 after acquiring an additional 527 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter valued at about $414,000. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on CMC. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of Commercial Metals to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $77.00 price target on shares of Commercial Metals in a research report on Thursday, June 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Commercial Metals in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Commercial Metals in a research report on Thursday, May 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.10.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of Commercial Metals stock opened at $73.82 on Thursday. Commercial Metals Company has a fifty-two week low of $47.06 and a fifty-two week high of $84.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a PE ratio of 16.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.45 and a beta of 1.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $69.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $70.45.

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

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, April 6th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This is a positive change from Commercial Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, April 6th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.04%.

About Commercial Metals

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.