United States Steel (NYSE:X) Price Target Raised to $43.00 at Morgan Stanley

United States Steel (NYSE:X) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $39.00 to $43.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

X has been the subject of several other research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of United States Steel in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.32.

United States Steel Price Performance

X opened at $36.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $36.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.68. United States Steel has a twelve month low of $26.92 and a twelve month high of $47.79.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.38). United States Steel had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 2.46%. Equities analysts expect that United States Steel will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. United States Steel’s payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United States Steel

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,558,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $698,791,000 after acquiring an additional 186,994 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,291,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $315,790,000 after acquiring an additional 929,762 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 4,788,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,747,000 after acquiring an additional 68,230 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,773,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,242,000 after acquiring an additional 174,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in United States Steel by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,862,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $131,313,000 after buying an additional 22,380 shares during the last quarter. 81.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About United States Steel

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.