Commercial Metals Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:CMC)

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors purchased 2,599 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 799% compared to the typical daily volume of 289 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMC. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 23,390.7% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,076,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $180,752,000 after acquiring an additional 3,063,241 shares during the last quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC acquired a new position in shares of Commercial Metals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $50,132,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in Commercial Metals by 388.4% during the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 298,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,550,000 after purchasing an additional 237,477 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Commercial Metals by 1,701.0% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 227,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,387,000 after purchasing an additional 215,131 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Commercial Metals by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,641,427 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $632,577,000 after purchasing an additional 191,345 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on CMC. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 26th. BMO Capital Markets set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Commercial Metals and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research cut shares of Commercial Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Tuesday, September 3rd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price objective on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Commercial Metals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.25.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Commercial Metals stock opened at $53.48 on Wednesday. Commercial Metals has a 52 week low of $39.85 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $53.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a PE ratio of 11.14 and a beta of 1.14.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.00%.

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.