Short Interest in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Rises By 29.0%

Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 598,100 shares, an increase of 29.0% from the August 31st total of 463,700 shares. Currently, 6.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 169,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Olympic Steel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Olympic Steel in the 2nd quarter valued at $58,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Olympic Steel in the 1st quarter valued at about $61,000. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Olympic Steel in the second quarter valued at about $201,000. Cornerstone Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in Olympic Steel during the first quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in Olympic Steel during the second quarter worth about $318,000. 87.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Olympic Steel Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of ZEUS opened at $38.84 on Friday. Olympic Steel has a 52-week low of $34.81 and a 52-week high of $73.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $51.46. The company has a market capitalization of $432.29 million, a PE ratio of 10.36 and a beta of 1.48.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.60 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $526.25 million during the quarter. Olympic Steel had a net margin of 1.74% and a return on equity of 4.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share.

Olympic Steel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd were issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.54%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Olympic Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 16.00%.

Olympic Steel Company Profile

Olympic Steel, Inc processes, distributes, and stores metal products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates in three segments: Carbon Flat Products; Specialty Metals Flat Products; and Tubular and Pipe Products. The company offers stainless steel and aluminum coil and sheet products, angles, rounds, and flat bars; alloy, heat treated, and abrasion resistant coils, sheets and plates; coated metals, including galvanized, galvannealed, electro galvanized, advanced high strength steels, aluminized, and automotive grades of steel; commercial quality, advanced high strength steel, drawing steel, and automotive grades cold rolled steel coil and sheet products; hot rolled carbon comprising hot rolled coil, pickled and oiled sheet and plate steel products, automotive grades, advanced high strength steels, and high strength low alloys; tube, pipe, and bar products, including round, square, and rectangular mechanical and structural tubing; hydraulic and stainless tubing; boiler tubing; carbon, stainless, and aluminum pipes; valves and fittings; and tin mill products, such as electrolytic tinplate, electrolytic chromium coated steel, and black plates.