American Century Companies Inc. Buys 206,778 Shares of Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) by 51.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 609,810 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 206,778 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc. owned 1.20% of Worthington Steel worth $18,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 429.8% during the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 513,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after purchasing an additional 416,509 shares in the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 154.3% in the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 340,752 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,165,000 after buying an additional 206,752 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Worthington Steel in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,377,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. raised its stake in Worthington Steel by 76.9% during the 3rd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 170,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,197,000 after buying an additional 74,349 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Worthington Steel by 93.7% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 115,912 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,458,000 after acquiring an additional 56,056 shares in the last quarter. 45.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Scott J. Kelly bought 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $39.11 per share, with a total value of $273,770.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 16,157 shares in the company, valued at $631,900.27. This trade represents a 76.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Jon J. Bowsher acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $40.15 per share, for a total transaction of $100,375.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 17,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $718,403.95. This trade represents a 16.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on WS. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Zacks Research raised shares of Worthington Steel from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Worthington Steel from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.00.

Worthington Steel Stock Down 1.9%

NYSE:WS opened at $36.14 on Wednesday. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.30 and a twelve month high of $49.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.30 and a beta of 1.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.66.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 19th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.01). Worthington Steel had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The company had revenue of $871.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.8%. Worthington Steel’s payout ratio is currently 35.96%.

Worthington Steel Profile

Worthington Steel (NYSE: WS) is a leading North American steel processor specializing in the production of flat-rolled, coated and painted sheet and coil products. Operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Worthington Industries, the company serves a broad range of industries, including construction, automotive, appliance, energy and agricultural equipment. Its core business activities encompass the processing, finishing and distribution of carbon and advanced high-strength steels, aluminum and stainless products to manufacturers across the continent.

The company’s product portfolio includes hot-dip galvanizing, galvannealed, aluminized and pre-painted steel products, as well as cold-rolled and hot-rolled coil.