Renaissance Technologies LLC Acquires 35,638 Shares of Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) by 23.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 186,438 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 35,638 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Worthington Steel were worth $5,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WS. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in Worthington Steel by 1,239.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 750 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in Worthington Steel by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new position in Worthington Steel in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in shares of Worthington Steel during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Worthington Steel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Institutional investors own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Jeffrey R. Klingler sold 20,036 shares of Worthington Steel stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.82, for a total value of $877,977.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 93,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,084,549.84. The trade was a 17.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Clifford Larivey sold 11,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total value of $445,199.45. Following the sale, the insider owned 64,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,578,107.72. The trade was a 14.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 33,708 shares of company stock worth $1,431,830. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings lowered Worthington Steel from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday. Zacks Research raised Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Stock Performance

Shares of WS stock opened at $38.21 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $37.56 and its 200 day moving average is $38.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.49 and a beta of 2.30. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $49.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Worthington Steel had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 8.87%. The business had revenue of $929.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. Worthington Steel’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.04%.

Worthington Steel Company Profile

Worthington Steel (NYSE: WS) is a leading North American steel processor specializing in the production of flat-rolled, coated and painted sheet and coil products. Operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Worthington Industries, the company serves a broad range of industries, including construction, automotive, appliance, energy and agricultural equipment. Its core business activities encompass the processing, finishing and distribution of carbon and advanced high-strength steels, aluminum and stainless products to manufacturers across the continent.

The company’s product portfolio includes hot-dip galvanizing, galvannealed, aluminized and pre-painted steel products, as well as cold-rolled and hot-rolled coil.