Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$60.61.

Several research firms have weighed in on RUS. National Bank Financial boosted their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$51.00 to C$52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. TD raised their price target on shares of Russel Metals from C$63.00 to C$68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. Scotia lifted their price target on shares of Russel Metals from C$54.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Russel Metals from C$65.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Russel Metals from C$49.00 to C$58.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James Francis Dinning sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$62.10, for a total transaction of C$155,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$1,195,425. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their position. Also, insider John Gregory Reid sold 28,935 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$58.62, for a total value of C$1,696,169.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 306,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$17,946,337.14. This represents a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 73,935 shares of company stock worth $4,430,667. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Russel Metals Stock Performance

Shares of RUS stock opened at C$64.43 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is C$60.53 and its 200-day moving average price is C$52.31. The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.50. The stock has a market cap of C$3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.10, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.21. Russel Metals has a twelve month low of C$39.09 and a twelve month high of C$64.85.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported C$1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Russel Metals had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The firm had revenue of C$1.42 billion during the quarter.

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. Russel Metals’s payout ratio is currently 48.31%.

About Russel Metals

Russel Metals is one of the largest metals distribution companies in North America with a growing focus on value-added processing. It carries on business in three segments: metals service centers, energy field stores and steel distributors. Its network of metals service centers carries an extensive line of metal products in a wide range of sizes, shapes and specifications, including carbon hot rolled and cold finished steel, pipe and tubular products, stainless steel, aluminum and other non-ferrous specialty metals.