Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT)

ArcelorMittal S.A. (NYSE:MT) saw some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 4,076 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 123% compared to the average daily volume of 1,824 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MT shares. Barclays raised shares of ArcelorMittal from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of ArcelorMittal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $31.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of ArcelorMittal from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised ArcelorMittal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $30.00 to $32.90 in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.17.

ArcelorMittal Stock Down 2.1 %

MT traded down $0.52 on Friday, hitting $24.84. The company had a trading volume of 821,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,594,205. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.74. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $24.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.95. ArcelorMittal has a 12-month low of $20.52 and a 12-month high of $29.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.46.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $15.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.11 billion. ArcelorMittal had a positive return on equity of 5.26% and a negative net margin of 1.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 EPS. Analysts predict that ArcelorMittal will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ArcelorMittal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MT. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in ArcelorMittal by 4.6% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 12,927 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 572 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in ArcelorMittal by 6.8% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 9,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of ArcelorMittal by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Pzena Investment Management LLC now owns 25,085 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of ArcelorMittal by 11.2% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 16,008 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 1,615 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in ArcelorMittal by 298.1% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 1,771 shares in the last quarter. 9.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated steel and mining companies in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It offers semi-finished flat products, including slabs; finished flat products comprising plates, hot- and cold-rolled coils and sheets, hot-dipped and electro-galvanized coils and sheets, tinplate, and color coated coils and sheets; semi-finished long products, such as blooms and billets; finished long products consisting of bars, wire-rods, structural sections, rails, sheet piles, and wire-products; and seamless and welded pipes and tubes.