Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Sells 56,725 Shares of Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC reduced its position in Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) by 28.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 145,248 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,725 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.29% of Worthington Steel worth $4,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,287,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,438,000 after acquiring an additional 217,090 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 1.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,462,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,823,000 after buying an additional 32,717 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Worthington Steel by 695.6% in the 3rd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 969,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,475,000 after buying an additional 847,981 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 811,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,106,000 after purchasing an additional 102,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in Worthington Steel by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 530,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,351,000 after buying an additional 16,653 shares during the period. 45.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Clifford Larivey sold 11,105 shares of Worthington Steel stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total transaction of $445,199.45. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 64,308 shares in the company, valued at $2,578,107.72. This trade represents a 14.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Jeffrey R. Klingler sold 20,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.82, for a total transaction of $877,977.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 93,212 shares in the company, valued at $4,084,549.84. This represents a 17.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 33,708 shares of company stock worth $1,431,830 over the last 90 days. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Worthington Steel Price Performance

Shares of WS opened at $35.93 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.85 and a beta of 2.34. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.22 and a fifty-two week high of $49.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.46. The business’s 50-day moving average is $38.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.01.

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

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

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

About Worthington Steel

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.