United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $41.37.

X has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $45.00 price target on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Monday, March 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $38.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on United States Steel from $35.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United States Steel

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in X. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of United States Steel during the fourth quarter valued at $130,731,000. Third Point LLC acquired a new position in United States Steel in the first quarter valued at about $153,192,000. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its stake in United States Steel by 448.9% in the first quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 2,641,762 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,641,000 after buying an additional 2,160,512 shares during the period. Forest Avenue Capital Management LP acquired a new position in United States Steel in the fourth quarter valued at about $50,795,000. Finally, NWI Management LP acquired a new position in United States Steel in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,946,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

United States Steel Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE X opened at $53.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $12.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. United States Steel has a 12 month low of $26.92 and a 12 month high of $54.00. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.00.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.35) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. United States Steel had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 4.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that United States Steel will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 12th. United States Steel’s payout ratio is presently 68.97%.

United States Steel Company Profile

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.