Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Price Target Cut to $56.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) had its price objective reduced by Morgan Stanley from $65.00 to $56.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Wolfe Research lowered Commercial Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Commercial Metals in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Commercial Metals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.33.

Commercial Metals Stock Down 1.8 %

Commercial Metals stock opened at $47.64 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $53.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.31. Commercial Metals has a 1-year low of $45.50 and a 1-year high of $64.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 1.70%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.49 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 16th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.86%.

Institutional Trading of Commercial Metals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CMC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 6.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,081,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $59,420,000 after purchasing an additional 66,092 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,714,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $94,208,000 after buying an additional 17,931 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 66.0% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 71,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,529,000 after buying an additional 28,297 shares in the last quarter. Vestcor Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 108.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 18,103 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $995,000 after acquiring an additional 9,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covea Finance grew its position in Commercial Metals by 44.2% in the fourth quarter. Covea Finance now owns 62,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,075,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Commercial Metals

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.