Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) Reaches New 1-Year High – Should You Buy?

Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday. The company traded as high as C$86.38 and last traded at C$86.13, with a volume of 11006 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$85.22.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on RUS. National Bank Financial boosted their price objective on shares of 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. Scotiabank increased their target price on Russel Metals from C$76.00 to C$89.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Raymond James Financial cut Russel Metals from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lifted their target price for the company from C$70.00 to C$82.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Russel Metals from C$64.00 to C$85.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Russel Metals from C$68.00 to C$92.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$76.89.

Russel Metals Trading Up 0.8%

The business’s 50-day moving average is C$74.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$62.82. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.88. The stock has a market capitalization of C$4.72 billion, a PE ratio of 21.91, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.28.

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

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.13%.

Insider Activity at Russel Metals

In related news, Director Brian Robie Hedges bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of C$80.48 per share, for a total transaction of C$80,480.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at C$80,480. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. Also, insider Martin Leb Juravsky sold 5,682 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$80.40, for a total value of C$456,832.80. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 6,674 shares in the company, valued at C$536,589.60. This trade represents a 45.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 33,682 shares of company stock worth $2,735,333. 0.85% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.