Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

WS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Wall Street Zen cut Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Worthington Steel has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Stock Performance

Worthington Steel stock opened at $35.85 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.92. Worthington Steel has a 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $49.17. The company has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 25.79 and a beta of 2.34.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Worthington Steel had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The business had revenue of $929.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Worthington Steel will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.04%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Clifford Larivey sold 11,105 shares of Worthington Steel stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total transaction of $445,199.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 64,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,578,107.72. This trade represents a 14.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Timothy A. Adams sold 2,367 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.27, for a total value of $100,053.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,098 shares in the company, valued at $1,864,022.46. This represents a 5.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 33,708 shares of company stock worth $1,431,830 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Worthington Steel

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in Worthington Steel by 56.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 28,143 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 20,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,000 after buying an additional 443 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 1,239.3% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 171,692 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,944,000 after buying an additional 697 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

Worthington Steel Company 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.