Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Short Interest Update

Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 209,700 shares, a decline of 25.8% from the August 15th total of 282,600 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 68,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Based on an average daily volume of 68,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 2.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ZEUS. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Olympic Steel from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Olympic Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.00.

Olympic Steel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ZEUS opened at $33.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $373.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36 and a beta of 1.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.03. The company has a current ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Olympic Steel has a 12 month low of $26.32 and a 12 month high of $43.60.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $496.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $506.60 million. Olympic Steel had a net margin of 0.77% and a return on equity of 1.95%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Olympic Steel will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Olympic Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 2nd. Olympic Steel’s dividend payout ratio is 52.46%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olympic Steel

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 2.2% during the first quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 19,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 178.7% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Olympic Steel by 33.6% during the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 605 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Olympic Steel by 823.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 741 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in shares of Olympic Steel by 20.1% during the first quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 4,954 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the period. 87.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.