United States Steel (NYSE:X) Shares Gap Down on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on the stock from $43.00 to $40.00. The stock had previously closed at $31.72, but opened at $30.20. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the stock. United States Steel shares last traded at $30.86, with a volume of 690,222 shares.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on X. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. BNP Paribas raised United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Finally, Glj Research raised 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 note on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.37.

Institutional Trading of United States Steel

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of United States Steel in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. Palouse Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in United States Steel during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Gladius Capital Management LP acquired a new position in United States Steel during the third quarter valued at $39,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 339.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in United States Steel in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

United States Steel Price Performance

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 stock has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a PE ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 1.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $37.88 and its 200-day moving average is $37.73.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its 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 business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that United States Steel Co. will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.16%.

United States Steel Company Profile

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.