United States Steel (NYSE:X) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of United States Steel (NYSE:X) in a research report released on Sunday morning. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on United States Steel from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a market perform rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Wolfe Research raised United States Steel from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $46.00 price target for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on United States Steel in a research note on Friday, January 12th. They issued a neutral rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered United States Steel from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $37.89.

United States Steel Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:X opened at $38.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.99 and a beta of 2.00. United States Steel has a 1-year low of $20.40 and a 1-year high of $50.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.76, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $43.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.29.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. United States Steel had a return on equity of 10.80% and a net margin of 4.96%. United States Steel’s revenue was down 4.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. Equities analysts predict that United States Steel will post 3.18 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 9th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 5.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United States Steel

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 29,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,456,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 6,552 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $318,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 28.7% in the 4th quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,363 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 304 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 32,770 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 2,004 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $97,000 after buying an additional 313 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

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.