BNP Paribas Downgrades Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) to Neutral

BNP Paribas cut shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Friday, MarketBeat Ratings reports.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $62.00 target price on Commercial Metals and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Commercial Metals in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Commercial Metals in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. 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, UBS Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Commercial Metals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.67.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of CMC stock opened at $48.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 3.94. The firm has a market cap of $5.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $57.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $54.97. Commercial Metals has a fifty-two week low of $47.42 and a fifty-two week high of $64.53.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 17th. The basic materials company reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $2 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.07 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 12.20% and a net margin of 6.13%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.47%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 17.39%.

Institutional Trading of Commercial Metals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC bought a new position in Commercial Metals during the second quarter valued at approximately $50,132,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 122.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 1,245,535 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $68,455,000 after buying an additional 686,519 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec purchased a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the 3rd quarter worth $16,731,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 204.3% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 420,808 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,570,000 after acquiring an additional 282,511 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Commercial Metals by 17.5% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 774,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,203,000 after purchasing an additional 115,326 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

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.