Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) has earned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the six analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$51.21.

RUS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Russel Metals from C$55.50 to C$60.00 in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Russel Metals from C$50.00 to C$56.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Russel Metals from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from C$45.00 to C$51.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, TD Securities lifted their price objective on Russel Metals from C$50.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Russel Metals

In other Russel Metals news, Director Brian Robie Hedges sold 5,000 shares of Russel Metals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$42.32, for a total value of C$211,600.00. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Russel Metals Stock Performance

TSE RUS opened at C$41.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of C$2.35 billion, a PE ratio of 13.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.52. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is C$41.56 and its 200-day simple moving average is C$40.94. Russel Metals has a 1-year low of C$35.20 and a 1-year high of C$46.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.28, a current ratio of 3.37 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.12%.

About Russel Metals

Russel Metals Inc is a Canada-based metal distribution company. The company conducts business primarily through three metals distribution segments: metals service centers; energy products; and steel distributors. The metal service centers provide processing and distribution services to a broad base of end-users.