United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) Short Interest Update

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X – Get Rating) saw a significant drop in short interest in October. On October 15, there was short interest totaling 24,080,000 shares, down 34.7% from the September 30 total of 36,860,000 shares. About 10.3% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 11,670,000 shares, the short interest ratio is currently 2.1 days.

US steel trade up 2.4%

United States Steel shares opened at $21.95 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.15. United States Steel has a 1-year low of $16.41 and a 1-year high of $39.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $21.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.27. The company has a debt to equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.98.

United States Steel (NYSE:X – Get Rating) last reported its earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The materials company reported $3.86 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $3.87 ($0.01). The company made $6.29 billion in revenue for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $5.82 billion. United States Steel had a net margin of 21.59% and a return on equity of 49.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter rose 25.2% year over year. In the same period last year, the company generated earnings per share of $3.37. On average, research analysts are forecasting that United States Steel will post 9.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel announced that its board of directors approved a share repurchase plan on Thursday, July 28, authorizing the company to repurchase $500.00 million of outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the materials company to acquire up to 8.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that management believes their stock is undervalued.

United States Steel announces dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 8th. A dividend of $0.05 per share was paid to shareholders of record on Monday, August 8th. The ex-dividend date was Friday August 5th. That equates to an annualized dividend of $0.20 and a yield of 0.91%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1.17%.

Institutional investors are banking on US steel

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently changed their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in United States Steel by 18.0% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 21,001 shares of the $380,000 materials company after purchasing an additional 3,199 shares last quarter. Balentine LLC acquired a new interest in United States Steel for approximately $242,000 during the third quarter. Wipfli Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in United States Steel valued at approximately $58,000 during the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC increased its stake in United States Steel by 6.6% in the third quarter. Thompson Siegel & Walmsley LLC now owns 2,618,678 shares of the materials company, valued at $47,450,000, after purchasing an additional 162,634 shares last quarter. Finally, Accuvest Global Advisors acquired a new $239,000 stake in United States Steel during the third quarter. 79.08% of the shares are owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts set new price targets

X has been the subject of a number of research reports. Credit Suisse Group lowered its target price on United States Steel to $37.00 from $44.00 and gave the stock a “Outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 16. Citigroup raised its target price on United States Steel shares to $27.00 in a research note on Tuesday, September 13. Morgan Stanley raised its price target on United States Steel to $21.50 from $20.00 and gave a rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 1. Goldman Sachs Group lowered its price target on United States Steel to 18 from $21.00 $.00 and gave the stock a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, October 6th. Finally, on Wednesday, October 12, StockNews.com began coverage of United States Steel stocks in a research note. You give the stock a “hold” rating. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three with a hold rating and one with a buy rating on the company. According to data from MarketBeat, United States Steel currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $25.19.

About United States Steel

(received rating)

United States Steel Corporation manufactures and sells flat rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. It operates through four segments: North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, US Steel Europe (USSE) and Tubular Products (Tubular). The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, rolled plates, sheets and tinplate products as well as iron ore and coke.

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