Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as C$63.99 and last traded at C$63.80, with a volume of 48894 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$63.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RUS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotia raised their price objective on shares of Russel Metals from C$54.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. TD increased their target price on Russel Metals from C$63.00 to C$68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on Russel Metals from C$60.00 to C$65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. National Bank Financial upped their price objective on Russel Metals from C$51.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, TD Securities increased their price objective on Russel Metals from C$50.00 to C$57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Russel Metals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$59.50.

Russel Metals Stock Up 1.7%

The company has a market cap of C$3.52 billion, a PE ratio of 18.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.16. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of C$53.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$48.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.50, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported C$1.30 earnings per share for the quarter. Russel Metals had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The business had revenue of C$1.42 billion during the quarter.

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. Russel Metals’s payout ratio is 48.31%.

Insider Transactions at Russel Metals

In other news, Director James Francis Dinning sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$62.10, for a total value of C$155,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$1,195,425. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Martin Leb Juravsky sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$63.28, for a total value of C$316,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 12,356 shares in the company, valued at C$781,887.68. This trade represents a 28.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold a total of 63,935 shares of company stock worth $3,798,167 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Russel Metals Company Profile

Russel Metals is one of the largest metals distribution companies in North America with a growing focus on value-added processing. It carries on business in three segments: metals service centers, energy field stores and steel distributors. Its network of metals service centers carries an extensive line of metal products in a wide range of sizes, shapes and specifications, including carbon hot rolled and cold finished steel, pipe and tubular products, stainless steel, aluminum and other non-ferrous specialty metals.