United States Steel (NYSE:X) Sees Strong Trading Volume – What’s Next?

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) shares saw an uptick in trading volume on Monday . 7,288,904 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the previous session’s volume of 11,919,654 shares.The stock last traded at $36.66 and had previously closed at $34.24.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of United States Steel from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America initiated coverage on United States Steel in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United States Steel presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.32.

United States Steel Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $37.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.00 and a beta of 1.88.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. United States Steel had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 2.41%. The business’s revenue was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that United States Steel Co. will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in X. Choreo LLC bought a new position in United States Steel in the 2nd quarter worth about $213,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in shares of United States Steel by 16.0% during the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 24,303 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 3,361 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in United States Steel by 4,305.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,634,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,379,000 after buying an additional 3,551,870 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in United States Steel by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 7,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in United States Steel by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,936 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $527,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

About United States Steel

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates through North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular) segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke.