Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $84.87 and last traded at $83.46, with a volume of 60576 shares. The stock had previously closed at $83.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on CMC shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 28th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 price objective on Commercial Metals and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $84.00 target price on shares of Commercial Metals in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Zacks Research downgraded Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $68.00 to $85.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $72.70.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 4.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.28 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a PEG ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $73.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.45.

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

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Commercial Metals

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commercial Metals

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Root Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Commercial Metals in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 282.3% during the 2nd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 692 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 511 shares in the last quarter. Spire Wealth Management grew its stake in Commercial Metals by 42.4% in the 3rd quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 183 shares during the period. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Commercial Metals by 110.7% in the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

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.