Investors Buy High Volume of ArcelorMittal Call Options (NYSE:MT)

ArcelorMittal S.A. (NYSE:MT) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 4,076 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 123% compared to the average daily volume of 1,824 call options.

ArcelorMittal Stock Performance

Shares of ArcelorMittal stock opened at $24.71 on Friday. ArcelorMittal has a 12 month low of $20.52 and a 12 month high of $29.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.59, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $19.90 billion, a PE ratio of -17.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 1.74. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $24.87 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.95.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The basic materials company reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down 8.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that ArcelorMittal will post 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

ArcelorMittal Company Profile

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.