Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Holdings in Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) by 31.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 870,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 398,076 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Commercial Metals were worth $53,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Qsemble Capital Management LP raised its holdings in Commercial Metals by 118.6% in the fourth quarter. Qsemble Capital Management LP now owns 49,885 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,453,000 after buying an additional 27,062 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 7.9% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 884,604 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $50,670,000 after buying an additional 64,491 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL grew its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 45.5% during the third quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL now owns 217,082 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,434,000 after buying an additional 67,864 shares during the last quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,600,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 977,385 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $67,655,000 after acquiring an additional 27,775 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on CMC shares. 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. UBS Group raised Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $89.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 13th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Commercial Metals from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on Commercial Metals from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on Commercial Metals in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a “sector weight” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $79.45.

Insider Activity at Commercial Metals

In other news, CEO Peter R. Matt acquired 8,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 10th. The stock was bought at an average price of $61.30 per share, with a total value of $504,499.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 181,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,127,298.60. The trade was a 4.75% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.62% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Commercial Metals Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of Commercial Metals stock opened at $66.44 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $7.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.54. The company’s 50 day moving average is $70.48 and its 200 day moving average is $70.58. Commercial Metals Company has a twelve month low of $49.66 and a twelve month high of $84.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 15.69%. The firm’s revenue was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals Company will post 6.63 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 6th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 6th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.07%.

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.