Palisade Capital Management LP Sells 38,707 Shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC)

Palisade Capital Management LP cut its position in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 518,519 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 38,707 shares during the quarter. Palisade Capital Management LP owned 0.45% of Commercial Metals worth $25,947,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its position in Commercial Metals by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 752,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,635,000 after purchasing an additional 165,326 shares during the last quarter. Lingohr Asset Management GmbH bought a new position in Commercial Metals in the fourth quarter valued at about $798,000. CoreCommodity Management LLC raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 60.5% during the fourth quarter. CoreCommodity Management LLC now owns 34,766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 13,110 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 165.7% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 49,486 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 30,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 59.1% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 617,188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,884,000 after acquiring an additional 229,266 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on CMC shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Commercial Metals from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. StockNews.com downgraded Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday.

Commercial Metals Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE CMC opened at $50.39 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $53.02. Commercial Metals has a one year low of $39.85 and a one year high of $59.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 4.19 and a quick ratio of 2.69.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, March 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.05). Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 17.72% and a net margin of 8.09%. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.44 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Commercial Metals will post 4.85 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. This is a boost from Commercial Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 12.50%.

Insider Activity at Commercial Metals

In related news, Chairman Barbara Smith sold 35,704 shares of Commercial Metals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.88, for a total transaction of $2,066,547.52. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 36,196 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,095,024.48. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Commercial Metals Profile

Commercial Metals Company manufactures, recycles, and fabricates steel and metal products, and related materials and services in the United States, Poland, China, and internationally. It operates through two segments, North America and Europe. The company processes and sells ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals to steel mills and foundries, aluminum sheet and ingot manufacturers, brass and bronze ingot makers, copper refineries and mills, secondary lead smelters, specialty steel mills, high temperature alloy manufacturers, and other consumers.