Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Reduces Stock Holdings in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank reduced its stake in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) by 4.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,354 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,356 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Commercial Metals were worth $1,406,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 0.4% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,830,412 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $320,439,000 after purchasing an additional 24,665 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,839,601 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $156,093,000 after purchasing an additional 28,019 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 11.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,422,427 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $120,152,000 after purchasing an additional 245,468 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Commercial Metals by 1.1% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,714,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $94,208,000 after purchasing an additional 17,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.3% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,462,317 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $80,369,000 after acquiring an additional 18,262 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BNP Paribas downgraded Commercial Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. UBS Group raised Commercial Metals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $54.00 in a report on Friday, January 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Commercial Metals from $56.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Commercial Metals from $62.00 to $58.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Commercial Metals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Commercial Metals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.83.

Commercial Metals Price Performance

Shares of NYSE CMC opened at $46.30 on Wednesday. Commercial Metals has a 1-year low of $42.62 and a 1-year high of $64.53. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $48.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.85. The company has a market cap of $5.26 billion, a PE ratio of 41.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.17.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its earnings results on Monday, January 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 1.70%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.85 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.49 earnings per share. Commercial Metals’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Commercial Metals will post 3.09 EPS for the current year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 16th. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.