Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 4,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $327,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System purchased a new position in shares of Olympic Steel in the 3rd quarter valued at about $203,000. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in Olympic Steel during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Diversified Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Olympic Steel in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $230,000. Versor Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Olympic Steel in the 3rd quarter valued at $247,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Olympic Steel by 92.8% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $287,000 after purchasing an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. 87.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut Olympic Steel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 2nd.

Olympic Steel Stock Performance

Shares of ZEUS opened at $63.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $705.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.46 and a beta of 1.64. Olympic Steel, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.85 and a 52-week high of $73.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.20, a current ratio of 3.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $67.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $62.79.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.12. Olympic Steel had a net margin of 2.06% and a return on equity of 7.30%. The business had revenue of $489.41 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $490.10 million. Research analysts predict that Olympic Steel, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Olympic Steel Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 4th were given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 1st. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. This is a boost from Olympic Steel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. Olympic Steel’s payout ratio is 15.58%.

Olympic Steel Company Profile

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.