United States Steel (NYSE:X) Upgraded to “Outperform” by BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of United States Steel (NYSE:X) from a market perform rating to an outperform rating in a research note published on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has $45.00 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $43.00.

Several other research firms also recently commented on X. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Monday, May 20th. They set a buy rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised United States Steel from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lowered their price target for the company from $51.00 to $48.00 in a research report on Monday, May 6th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Monday. They issued a hold rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on United States Steel from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research raised United States Steel from a peer perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $46.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $38.78.

United States Steel Trading Up 5.6 %

United States Steel stock opened at $37.17 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.71 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $8.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.90 and a beta of 1.99. United States Steel has a one year low of $22.26 and a one year high of $50.20. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.34.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.78 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.22 billion. United States Steel had a net margin of 4.89% and a return on equity of 10.61%. On average, analysts forecast that United States Steel will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Investors of record on Monday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 10th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.87%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in United States Steel by 308.3% during the fourth quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 331,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,127,000 after purchasing an additional 250,311 shares during the period. FNY Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in United States Steel by 16,065.0% during the fourth quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC now owns 32,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,572,000 after purchasing an additional 32,130 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its stake in United States Steel by 436.4% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 214,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,426,000 after purchasing an additional 174,350 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in United States Steel by 4,057.9% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 747,553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,368,000 after purchasing an additional 729,574 shares during the period. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in United States Steel by 1,132.8% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 115,715 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,630,000 after purchasing an additional 106,329 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

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.