MetLife Investment Management LLC Acquires 7,195 Shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 5.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 130,553 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,195 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Commercial Metals worth $6,475,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Commercial Metals by 6.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,081,153 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $59,420,000 after purchasing an additional 66,092 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Commercial Metals by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,714,116 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $94,208,000 after buying an additional 17,931 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Commercial Metals by 66.0% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 71,151 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,529,000 after acquiring an additional 28,297 shares during the period. Covea Finance raised its stake in Commercial Metals by 44.2% during the fourth quarter. Covea Finance now owns 62,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,075,000 after acquiring an additional 19,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Spring Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Commercial Metals during the fourth quarter valued at $248,000. Institutional investors own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on CMC shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $58.00 to $54.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Commercial Metals from $54.00 to $49.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas cut Commercial Metals from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $60.33.

Insider Activity at Commercial Metals

In other news, Director John R. Mcpherson acquired 2,475 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $40.42 per share, for a total transaction of $100,039.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 15,141 shares in the company, valued at $611,999.22. This trade represents a 19.54 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.46% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Commercial Metals Stock Performance

CMC stock opened at $42.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.84 billion, a PE ratio of 38.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 2.76 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $45.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.31. Commercial Metals has a fifty-two week low of $37.92 and a fifty-two week high of $64.53.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.31 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $1.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 1.70% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The company's revenue was down 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Analysts forecast that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 9th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.68%. Commercial Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 120.00%.

Commercial Metals 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.

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