Citigroup Has Lowered Expectations for Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Stock Price

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) had its price objective cut by investment analysts at Citigroup from $85.00 to $75.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Citigroup’s price target points to a potential upside of 19.56% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research firms have also commented on CMC. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Commercial Metals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $79.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised Commercial Metals to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Commercial Metals from $83.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on Commercial Metals in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. They set a “sector weight” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Commercial Metals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $79.10.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

Shares of CMC opened at $62.73 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $71.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $70.98. The firm has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.54. Commercial Metals has a 12-month low of $49.66 and a 12-month high of $84.87. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.70 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $2.48 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 6.72% and a return on equity of 15.69%. Commercial Metals’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Commercial Metals will post 6.54 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its position in Commercial Metals by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,361,477 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $440,341,000 after purchasing an additional 91,104 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in Commercial Metals by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,641,930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $208,629,000 after purchasing an additional 67,139 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Commercial Metals by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,926,864 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $202,626,000 after purchasing an additional 86,749 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Commercial Metals by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,661,027 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $95,144,000 after purchasing an additional 76,365 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 87.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,631,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,205,000 after buying an additional 760,985 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.