StockNews.com Begins Coverage on United States Steel (NYSE:X)

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of United States Steel (NYSE:X) in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised shares of United States Steel from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $48.00 in a report on Monday, May 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of United States Steel in a report on Monday, May 20th. They issued a buy rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Wolfe Research raised shares of United States Steel from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of United States Steel from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $40.00.

United States Steel Price Performance

United States Steel stock opened at $38.18 on Thursday. United States Steel has a 52-week low of $22.26 and a 52-week high of $50.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.20 and a beta of 1.93. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.01. United States Steel had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 10.61%. The business had revenue of $4.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.22 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that United States Steel will post 2.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 13th were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. United States Steel’s payout ratio is currently 5.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 339.0% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 9.7% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 9,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $353,000 after purchasing an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 4.1% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 8,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $329,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 18.2% during the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 82,018 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,100,000 after purchasing an additional 12,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 13.2% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,619 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $666,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

United States Steel Company Profile

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates through North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular) segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke.