United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $37.89.

X has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. assumed coverage on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Friday, January 12th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of United States Steel from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of United States Steel from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $51.00 in a research note on Thursday, February 15th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United States Steel

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 2,145.4% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 40,485 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,326,000 after purchasing an additional 38,682 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in United States Steel by 14.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 17,979 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 2,202 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of United States Steel by 51.1% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,828 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 957 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United States Steel during the 3rd quarter worth $487,000. Finally, Nikulski Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of United States Steel in the 3rd quarter worth about $241,000. 81.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

United States Steel Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:X opened at $36.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The stock has a market cap of $8.23 billion, a PE ratio of 10.43 and a beta of 2.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $42.78 and a 200-day moving average of $41.33. United States Steel has a 12-month low of $20.40 and a 12-month high of $50.20.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.46. United States Steel had a net margin of 4.96% and a return on equity of 10.80%. The company had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.87 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that United States Steel will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 13th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 12th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 9th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.70%.

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.