156,647 Shares in Commercial Metals Company $CMC Purchased by William Blair Investment Management LLC

William Blair Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 156,647 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,830,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMC. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $954,989,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $103,962,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $97,983,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Commercial Metals in the second quarter valued at approximately $59,572,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Commercial Metals by 87.4% in the first 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 buying an additional 760,985 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

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

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of CMC stock opened at $66.36 on Monday. Commercial Metals Company has a 12-month low of $53.08 and a 12-month high of $84.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.38 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $68.73 and a 200-day moving average of $69.83.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.48 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Commercial Metals Company will post 6.64 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on CMC shares. BNP Paribas Exane raised shares of Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Zacks Research raised Commercial Metals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded Commercial Metals to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. UBS Group raised Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $79.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Commercial Metals from $84.00 to $78.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $81.18.

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.