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

Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) saw a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 598,100 shares, an increase of 29.0% from the August 31st total of 463,700 shares. Currently, 6.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 169,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.5 days.

Olympic Steel Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:ZEUS opened at $39.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.32 and a 200 day moving average of $51.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Olympic Steel has a 52 week low of $34.81 and a 52 week high of $73.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $438.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.48.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.55 by $0.05. Olympic Steel had a return on equity of 4.98% and a net margin of 1.74%. The firm had revenue of $526.25 million during the quarter. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS.

Olympic Steel Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd were given a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Olympic Steel’s payout ratio is currently 16.00%.

Institutional Trading of Olympic Steel

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its holdings in shares of Olympic Steel by 0.6% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,710 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,035,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Olympic Steel by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 6,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $435,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Olympic Steel by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 14,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Olympic Steel by 2.9% during the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 13,921 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $624,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in Olympic Steel by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,903 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. 87.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Olympic Steel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th.

Olympic Steel Company Profile

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.