ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $51.9750.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MT shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of ArcelorMittal in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. UBS Group cut ArcelorMittal from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded ArcelorMittal from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on ArcelorMittal from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ArcelorMittal in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ArcelorMittal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in ArcelorMittal by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,220,992 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $146,780,000 after purchasing an additional 49,614 shares during the last quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of ArcelorMittal by 42.4% in the 4th quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,630,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $74,306,000 after buying an additional 485,400 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG raised its stake in shares of ArcelorMittal by 405.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,181,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,706,000 after acquiring an additional 947,532 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in ArcelorMittal by 15.6% during the third quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 947,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,267,000 after acquiring an additional 128,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama purchased a new stake in ArcelorMittal during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,721,000. Institutional investors own 9.29% of the company’s stock.

ArcelorMittal Price Performance

Shares of ArcelorMittal stock opened at $60.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $46.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.38. ArcelorMittal has a one year low of $23.19 and a one year high of $67.60.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.30. ArcelorMittal had a net margin of 5.14% and a return on equity of 5.27%. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that ArcelorMittal will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

ArcelorMittal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. ArcelorMittal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 12.44%.

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal is a multinational steel manufacturing company formed in 2006 through the merger of Arcelor and Mittal Steel. Headquartered in Luxembourg, the company is one of the world’s largest producers of steel and operates an integrated value chain that spans raw material extraction, steelmaking, processing and distribution. Its product portfolio includes flat and long carbon steel products, coated and specialty steels, tubular products and value-added solutions tailored for sectors such as automotive, construction, household appliances, energy and packaging.

ArcelorMittal’s operations are global in scope, with production facilities, distribution networks and commercial activities across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States.