Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Upgraded to “Outperform” at BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) from a neutral rating to an outperform rating in a research report released on Wednesday morning, MarketBeat reports. BNP Paribas Exane currently has $75.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on CMC. Wall Street Zen cut Commercial Metals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Zacks Research cut shares of Commercial Metals from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, June 12th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings raised Commercial Metals from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Commercial Metals from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $78.73.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

Shares of Commercial Metals stock opened at $62.05 on Wednesday. Commercial Metals has a one year low of $49.66 and a one year high of $84.87. The company has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.54. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $71.19 and its 200 day moving average price is $70.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.54 and a current ratio of 2.33.

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

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 6th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, July 6th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.3%. Commercial Metals’s payout ratio is presently 15.07%.

Institutional Trading of Commercial Metals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Commercial Metals by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 3,572 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $224,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in Commercial Metals during the second quarter worth about $206,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its position in Commercial Metals by 4.2% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 3,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new stake in Commercial Metals in the 1st quarter worth about $1,046,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its holdings in Commercial Metals by 87.4% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,631,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,205,000 after purchasing an additional 760,985 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

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.