United States Steel (NYSE:X) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $42.90, but opened at $44.25. United States Steel shares last traded at $45.39, with a volume of 3,344,488 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective (down from $43.00) on shares of United States Steel in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of United States Steel in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.22.

United States Steel Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average is $42.26 and its 200 day moving average is $38.65. The company has a market capitalization of $11.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.35) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. United States Steel had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 2.46%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United States Steel Co. will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. United States Steel’s payout ratio is 68.97%.

Institutional Trading of United States Steel

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in X. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 25.8% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,575 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $156,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 153.7% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 15,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $517,000 after acquiring an additional 9,210 shares during the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 23,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $814,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 36.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,781 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $134,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 57.6% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 8,796 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 3,216 shares during the last quarter. 81.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.