United States Steel Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:X)

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) saw unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders purchased 84,572 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 86% compared to the average daily volume of 45,357 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on X shares. BNP Paribas raised shares of United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on United States Steel from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Glj Research raised United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, United States Steel presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.80.

United States Steel Trading Up 6.1 %

Shares of X opened at $40.73 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.67. United States Steel has a 52-week low of $26.92 and a 52-week high of $50.20. The firm has a market cap of $9.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.49 and a beta of 1.86. The business’s fifty day moving average is $37.66 and its 200-day moving average is $37.83.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. United States Steel had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 6.01%. The firm’s revenue was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that United States Steel will post 2.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.49%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United States Steel

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of X. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in shares of United States Steel by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 4,719,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $166,752,000 after buying an additional 326,876 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 26.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,598,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,477,000 after acquiring an additional 964,467 shares during the period. KGH Ltd boosted its holdings in United States Steel by 68.2% in the second quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 4,255,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $160,839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,724,670 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in United States Steel by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,839,684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $135,691,000 after purchasing an additional 37,528 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. lifted its position 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 worth $100,848,000 after purchasing an additional 316,800 shares during the period. 81.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.