Short Interest in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Increases By 23.5%

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,210,000 shares, an increase of 23.5% from the May 31st total of 2,600,000 shares. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 789,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on CMC. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Commercial Metals from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. StockNews.com cut shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $60.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Commercial Metals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CMC. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 23,390.7% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,076,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $180,752,000 after purchasing an additional 3,063,241 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Commercial Metals in the 4th quarter worth about $94,722,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 241.3% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809,841 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $90,564,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279,617 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 4.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,450,082 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $615,159,000 after buying an additional 487,792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 388.4% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 298,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,550,000 after buying an additional 237,477 shares during the period. 86.90% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Commercial Metals Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE CMC traded down $0.56 on Tuesday, hitting $52.96. The company had a trading volume of 726,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,955. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 4.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Commercial Metals has a 12-month low of $39.85 and a 12-month high of $59.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.96 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $54.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $53.71.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 20th. The basic materials company reported $1.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.02 billion. Commercial Metals had a return on equity of 14.62% and a net margin of 6.95%. Commercial Metals’s quarterly revenue was down 11.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.02 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Commercial Metals will post 4.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Monday, July 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, July 1st. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.00%.

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.