Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) Stock Now Rated “Moderate Buy” by Sell-Side Analysts

Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is C$85.22.

RUS has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Russel Metals from C$82.00 to C$92.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Russel Metals from C$92.00 to C$107.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Russel Metals from C$64.00 to C$85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. National Bank Financial increased their price objective on Russel Metals from C$75.00 to C$101.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank set a C$113.00 target price on Russel Metals and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 15th.

Russel Metals Stock Performance

Shares of Russel Metals stock opened at C$88.25 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is C$82.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$62.85. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.88. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.51, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.95. Russel Metals has a 12 month low of C$39.09 and a 12 month high of C$95.97.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$1.66 billion during the quarter. Russel Metals had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 4.04%.

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.13%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director James Francis Dinning sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$80.00, for a total transaction of C$240,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,300,000. This represents a 15.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, insider Martin Leb Juravsky sold 5,682 shares of Russel Metals stock in a transaction on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$80.40, for a total transaction of C$456,832.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 6,674 shares in the company, valued at C$536,589.60. The trade was a 45.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Insiders have sold 33,682 shares of company stock worth $2,735,333 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

About Russel Metals

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.