Covea Finance Grows Stake in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC)

Covea Finance lifted its position in shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 44.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 62,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 19,000 shares during the quarter. Covea Finance owned approximately 0.05% of Commercial Metals worth $3,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in Commercial Metals during the third quarter worth about $66,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 56.6% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,611 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 944 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 2,784 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $138,000 after purchasing an additional 254 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Commercial Metals by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,099 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Commercial Metals during the 3rd quarter valued at $206,000. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on CMC shares. UBS Group raised 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. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas lowered shares of Commercial Metals from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $63.83.

Commercial Metals Trading Up 5.1 %

CMC traded up $2.50 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,442,861 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,480,385. Commercial Metals has a 52-week low of $45.50 and a 52-week high of $64.53. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $56.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.76. The company has a current ratio of 3.94, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market cap of $5.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.46, a PEG ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.19.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.78. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 6.13% and a return on equity of 12.20%. Commercial Metals's revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals will post 4.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. Commercial Metals's payout ratio is 64.86%.

Commercial Metals Company Profile

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.