Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on United States Steel (NYSE:X)

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) was the target of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 111,124 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 67% compared to the typical volume of 66,520 call options.

United States Steel Trading Up 9.5 %

X opened at $33.99 on Thursday. United States Steel has a 12 month low of $26.92 and a 12 month high of $48.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $36.92 and a 200 day moving average of $37.42. The firm has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 1.83.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.85 billion during 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%. United States Steel’s quarterly revenue was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that United States Steel will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. United States Steel’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in United States Steel by 8.3% in the second quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,673 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $177,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in shares of United States Steel during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 1.9% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 29,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,128,000 after acquiring an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in United States Steel by 159.0% in the second quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $580,000 after acquiring an additional 9,420 shares during the period. Finally, Versor Investments LP grew its holdings in United States Steel by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 185,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,000,000 after acquiring an additional 14,820 shares in the last quarter. 81.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on X. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Glj Research upgraded United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, United States Steel has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.37.

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.