Palisade Capital Management LP Makes New $11.20 Million Investment in Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Palisade Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor purchased 178,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,197,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Qsemble Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Commercial Metals by 118.6% during the 4th quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 49,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,453,000 after acquiring an additional 27,062 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System lifted its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 11.5% in the 1st quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 277,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,070,000 after purchasing an additional 28,693 shares during the period. NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,600,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 87.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,631,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,205,000 after purchasing an additional 760,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,457,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Commercial Metals

In other Commercial Metals news, Director John R. Mcpherson acquired 1,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $71.92 per share, with a total value of $99,968.80. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 21,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,576,989.84. This represents a 6.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Peter R. Matt bought 8,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 10th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $61.30 per share, with a total value of $504,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 181,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,127,298.60. This represents a 4.75% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

Shares of Commercial Metals stock opened at $66.94 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $68.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $69.60. Commercial Metals Company has a one year low of $53.08 and a one year high of $84.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.33 and a quick ratio of 1.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.61, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.52.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 15.69% and a net margin of 6.72%.The business had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals Company will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, August 5th that authorizes the company to repurchase $600.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to purchase up to 7.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.07%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CMC. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Commercial Metals from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Weiss Ratings upgraded Commercial Metals from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $85.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Commercial Metals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $81.18.

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.