United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) have been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the seven brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $42.80.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Glj Research upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of United States Steel in a report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th.

United States Steel Price Performance

Shares of United States Steel stock opened at $39.08 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a PE ratio of 25.71 and a beta of 1.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.68. United States Steel has a fifty-two week low of $26.92 and a fifty-two week high of $50.20.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. United States Steel had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 2.41%. United States Steel’s quarterly revenue was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. Analysts expect that United States Steel will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United States Steel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its holdings in United States Steel by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 4,719,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $166,752,000 after acquiring an additional 326,876 shares during the period. KGH Ltd boosted its holdings in United States Steel by 68.2% during the second quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 4,255,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $160,839,000 after buying an additional 1,724,670 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of United States Steel by 4,305.6% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,634,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,379,000 after buying an additional 3,551,870 shares during the period. Alpine Associates Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of United States Steel by 13.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 2,667,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,848,000 after acquiring an additional 316,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Murchinson Ltd. boosted its stake in United States Steel by 66.5% during the 1st quarter. Murchinson Ltd. now owns 2,100,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,638,000 after acquiring an additional 838,653 shares during the last quarter. 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.