Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Free Report) by 5.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,621,149 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 92,967 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 1.43% of Commercial Metals worth $80,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in CMC. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,830,412 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $320,439,000 after purchasing an additional 24,665 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,839,601 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $156,093,000 after buying an additional 28,019 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,176,959 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $119,646,000 after buying an additional 41,206 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Commercial Metals by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,462,317 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $80,369,000 after acquiring an additional 18,262 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC boosted its position in Commercial Metals by 58.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 1,440,531 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $79,172,000 after buying an additional 528,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company's stock.

Commercial Metals Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:CMC traded down $1.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $49.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 928,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 955,101. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.84, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $50.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $53.66. Commercial Metals has a 1 year low of $45.50 and a 1 year high of $64.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 2.76.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.78. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.85 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 1.70% and a return on equity of 9.88%. Commercial Metals's quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.49 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. Commercial Metals's payout ratio is 64.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. BNP Paribas downgraded Commercial Metals from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group started 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $56.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of Commercial Metals from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.33.

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.