Short Interest in Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) Drops By 7.0%

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,170,000 shares, a drop of 7.0% from the July 15th total of 3,410,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 784,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days. Currently, 2.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,641,427 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $632,577,000 after purchasing an additional 191,345 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Commercial Metals by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,611,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $380,859,000 after buying an additional 160,228 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in Commercial Metals by 23,390.7% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,076,337 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $180,752,000 after buying an additional 3,063,241 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Commercial Metals in the fourth quarter valued at $94,722,000. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Commercial Metals by 241.3% during the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,809,841 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $90,564,000 after acquiring an additional 1,279,617 shares during the last quarter. 86.90% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Commercial Metals Stock Down 0.5 %

Commercial Metals stock opened at $53.70 on Wednesday. Commercial Metals has a 52 week low of $39.85 and a 52 week high of $61.26. The stock has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.19 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $54.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $54.99. The company has a current ratio of 4.24, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Commercial Metals (NYSE:CMC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 20th. The basic materials company reported $1.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.02 billion. Commercial Metals had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 14.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.02 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Commercial Metals will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Commercial Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, July 1st were issued a $0.18 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, July 1st. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Commercial Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on CMC shares. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Commercial Metals from $70.00 to $69.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. StockNews.com cut Commercial Metals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.50.

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.