Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank decreased its position in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) by 8.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,139 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,661 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Olympic Steel were worth $595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Olympic Steel by 136.1% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 214,493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,365,000 after buying an additional 123,632 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in shares of Olympic Steel by 275.2% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 15,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $606,000 after acquiring an additional 11,392 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Olympic Steel in the third quarter worth about $3,978,000. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Olympic Steel in the third quarter valued at about $202,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new stake in Olympic Steel during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $632,000. 87.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Olympic Steel Stock Down 2.3 %

ZEUS stock opened at $31.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $352.01 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.05 and a beta of 1.48. Olympic Steel, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.29 and a 1-year high of $73.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $33.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 1.26.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $418.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $441.60 million. Olympic Steel had a return on equity of 3.31% and a net margin of 1.18%. Research analysts predict that Olympic Steel, Inc. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Olympic Steel Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.16 dividend. This is a boost from Olympic Steel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.02%. Olympic Steel’s dividend payout ratio is 32.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp increased their target price on Olympic Steel from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com downgraded Olympic Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st.

About Olympic Steel

Olympic Steel, Inc processes, distributes, and stores metal products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates in three segments: Carbon Flat Products; Specialty Metals Flat Products; and Tubular and Pipe Products. The company offers stainless steel and aluminum coil and sheet products, angles, rounds, and flat bars; alloy, heat treated, and abrasion resistant coils, sheets and plates; coated metals, including galvanized, galvannealed, electro galvanized, advanced high strength steels, aluminized, and automotive grades of steel; commercial quality, advanced high strength steel, drawing steel, and automotive grades cold rolled steel coil and sheet products; hot rolled carbon comprising hot rolled coil, pickled and oiled sheet and plate steel products, automotive grades, advanced high strength steels, and high strength low alloys; tube, pipe, and bar products, including round, square, and rectangular mechanical and structural tubing; hydraulic and stainless tubing; boiler tubing; carbon, stainless, and aluminum pipes; valves and fittings; and tin mill products, such as electrolytic tinplate, electrolytic chromium coated steel, and black plates.