Ryerson (NYSE:RYI) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Ryerson (NYSE:RYI – Get Rating) in a research note published on Thursday. The brokerage issued a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. TheStreet cut Ryerson from a b rating to a c+ rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ryerson from $36.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research report on Friday, February 24th.

Ryerson Stock Down 4.4 %

Shares of NYSE RYI opened at $32.93 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.17 billion, a PE ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 1.77. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $31.89. Ryerson has a 12-month low of $18.68 and a 12-month high of $44.09.

Ryerson (NYSE:RYI – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported ($0.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($1.35). The company had revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.21 billion. Ryerson had a net margin of 6.18% and a return on equity of 48.31%. As a group, analysts expect that Ryerson will post 3.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ryerson Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 6th were given a $0.17 dividend. This is a boost from Ryerson’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 3rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. Ryerson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 6.75%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ryerson

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Ryerson by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,715,201 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $51,900,000 after acquiring an additional 113,677 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Ryerson by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,238,973 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,891,000 after acquiring an additional 23,679 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Ryerson by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,228,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,609,000 after acquiring an additional 140,107 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in Ryerson by 128.4% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 588,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,521,000 after acquiring an additional 330,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ryerson by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 373,972 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,316,000 after acquiring an additional 23,369 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.59% of the company’s stock.

About Ryerson

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Ryerson Holding Corp. engages in the processing and distribution of industrial metals. It processes and distributes products in stainless steel, aluminum carbon steel and alloy steels, and a limited line of nickel and red metals in various shapes and forms. The firm serves end-markets including oil and gas, industrial equipment, transportation equipment, heavy equipment, and electrical machinery.