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

Shares of Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is C$76.89.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$68.00 to C$92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Russel Metals from C$76.00 to C$89.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. TD upped their target price on Russel Metals from C$68.00 to C$94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. National Bank Financial increased their price target on Russel Metals from C$57.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Russel Metals from C$64.00 to C$85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

Russel Metals Stock Performance

Shares of RUS opened at C$76.15 on Tuesday. Russel Metals has a one year low of C$39.09 and a one year high of C$83.12. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of C$70.76 and a 200 day moving average price of C$59.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.88, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.61. The company has a market capitalization of C$4.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.43, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.28.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$1.66 billion for the quarter. Russel Metals had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 4.04%.

Russel Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 28th. Russel Metals’s payout ratio is presently 44.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Brian Robie Hedges sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$81.54, for a total transaction of C$2,038,500.00. Also, Director James Francis Dinning sold 3,000 shares of Russel Metals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$80.00, for a total transaction of C$240,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 16,250 shares in the company, valued at C$1,300,000. This represents a 15.58% decrease in their position. Insiders have sold a total of 33,682 shares of company stock valued at $2,735,333 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

Russel Metals Company Profile

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.