AIA Group Ltd Invests $971,000 in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC)

AIA Group Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 19,396 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $971,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its stake in Commercial Metals by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 6,987 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $337,000 after acquiring an additional 201 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 23,471 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,160,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 6,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $308,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 12,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 285 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversified Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 23,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,176,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CMC has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets raised 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. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on shares of Commercial Metals in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $65.00 price target for the company.

Commercial Metals Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Commercial Metals stock opened at $55.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.69 and a current ratio of 4.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.39 billion, a PE ratio of 9.59 and a beta of 1.33. Commercial Metals has a 52-week low of $39.85 and a 52-week high of $59.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.41 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.10.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 21st. The basic materials company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.93 by ($0.05). Commercial Metals had a net margin of 8.09% and a return on equity of 17.72%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Commercial Metals will post 5.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, April 1st were given a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. This is a positive change from Commercial Metals’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. Commercial Metals’s payout ratio is 12.50%.

Insider Activity at Commercial Metals

In related news, CAO Lindsay L. Sloan sold 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.52, for a total transaction of $30,912.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,338 shares in the company, valued at $635,653.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Commercial Metals news, CAO Lindsay L. Sloan sold 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.52, for a total value of $30,912.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 12,338 shares in the company, valued at $635,653.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Barbara Smith sold 60,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.28, for a total transaction of $3,085,312.48. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 96,019 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,923,854.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 120,089 shares of company stock worth $6,402,693. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.