Jefferies Financial Group Cuts Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Price Target to $62.00

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) had its target price reduced by Jefferies Financial Group from $65.00 to $62.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on CMC. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. UBS Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $56.00 price objective (down from $62.00) on shares of Commercial Metals in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. BNP Paribas lowered Commercial Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Commercial Metals in a report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. 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 on the stock in a report on Friday, January 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.17.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMC opened at $47.65 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $54.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 3.94 and a quick ratio of 2.78. The company has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.19. Commercial Metals has a 1-year low of $47.41 and a 1-year high of $64.53.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last issued its earnings results on Monday, January 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.78 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.78. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 6.13% and a return on equity of 12.20%. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Commercial Metals will post 4.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Commercial Metals’s payout ratio is 17.39%.

Institutional Trading of Commercial Metals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Commercial Metals in the third quarter valued at about $66,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 acquiring an additional 944 shares during the period. KBC Group NV grew its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the third quarter valued at approximately $206,000. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 29.7% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 3,798 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $209,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.90% of the company’s stock.

About Commercial Metals

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.