Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.20

Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 6th will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share by the basic materials company on Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 6th. This is a 11.1% increase from Commercial Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.18.

Commercial Metals has increased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 4 consecutive years. Commercial Metals has a payout ratio of 16.9% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Commercial Metals to earn $4.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.72 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 15.4%.

Commercial Metals Trading Down 2.1%

Shares of CMC stock traded down $1.32 on Wednesday, reaching $62.49. 1,983,092 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,307,174. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 4.47 and a quick ratio of 3.70. Commercial Metals has a one year low of $37.92 and a one year high of $84.87. The stock has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a PE ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.33 and a beta of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $73.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $66.59.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 8th. The basic materials company reported $1.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.55 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $2.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.06 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 5.46% and a return on equity of 11.43%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.78 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer J. Durbin sold 25,050 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.97, for a total value of $2,003,248.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 52,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,228,813.60. This represents a 32.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Dennis V. Arriola bought 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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. This represents a 27.63% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.62% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CMC. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Commercial Metals by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,361,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $440,341,000 after buying an additional 91,104 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.9% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,641,930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $208,629,000 after acquiring an additional 67,139 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,926,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $202,626,000 after acquiring an additional 86,749 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 6.6% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,823,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $104,474,000 after acquiring an additional 112,267 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Commercial Metals by 4.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,661,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $95,144,000 after acquiring an additional 76,365 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.