United States Steel (NYSE:X) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Shares of United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 3,544,654 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 11% from the previous session’s volume of 3,998,586 shares.The stock last traded at $30.10 and had previously closed at $29.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on X. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on United States Steel from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of United States Steel in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.67.

United States Steel Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.17 and a beta of 1.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.50.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. United States Steel had a net margin of 3.40% and a return on equity of 7.93%. United States Steel’s revenue was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.92 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that United States Steel Co. will post 2.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.64%. United States Steel’s payout ratio is 5.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its position in United States Steel by 436.4% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 214,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,426,000 after purchasing an additional 174,350 shares during the last quarter. Third Point LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 5,500,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $267,575,000 after buying an additional 750,000 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP bought a new stake in United States Steel during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,408,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in United States Steel by 94.3% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 211,043 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,601,000 after buying an additional 102,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in United States Steel in the fourth quarter worth approximately $219,000. Institutional investors own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

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.