Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Commercial Metals Company $CMC

Gallagher Fiduciary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Commercial Metals Company (NYSE:CMC) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 15,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $967,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in Commercial Metals in the second quarter worth about $3,286,000. Jupiter Topco LLC purchased a new position in shares of Commercial Metals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $36,800,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $662,000. Expect Equity LLC bought a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,565,000. Finally, Palisade Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $11,197,000. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Commercial Metals Trading Up 3.2%

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

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

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

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, July 6th were issued a $0.20 dividend. 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 presently 15.07%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter R. Matt purchased 8,230 shares of Commercial Metals stock in a transaction on Friday, July 10th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $61.30 per share, for a total transaction of $504,499.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 181,522 shares in the company, valued at $11,127,298.60. This represents a 4.75% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director John R. Mcpherson acquired 1,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $71.92 per share, for a total transaction of $99,968.80. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 21,927 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,576,989.84. This trade represents a 6.77% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.62% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Commercial Metals from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $79.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.