Magnetar Financial LLC Cuts Holdings in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)

Magnetar Financial LLC lessened its stake in shares of United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 783,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,236 shares during the quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC owned approximately 0.35% of United States Steel worth $29,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in X. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in United States Steel by 4,305.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,634,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,379,000 after acquiring an additional 3,551,870 shares in the last quarter. KRYGER CAPITAL Ltd acquired a new stake in United States Steel in the 4th quarter worth approximately $95,529,000. Bank of Nova Scotia purchased a new stake in United States Steel during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,338,000. Murchinson Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 66.5% in the first quarter. Murchinson Ltd. now owns 2,100,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,638,000 after buying an additional 838,653 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Third Point LLC raised its position in United States Steel by 15.8% during the fourth quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 5,500,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $267,575,000 after acquiring an additional 750,000 shares in the last quarter. 81.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of United States Steel in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on United States Steel from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Glj Research raised United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 price target for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.76.

United States Steel Price Performance

Shares of X stock opened at $38.96 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $38.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.57. United States Steel Co. has a 12 month low of $26.92 and a 12 month high of $50.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market capitalization of $8.76 billion, a PE ratio of 11.43 and a beta of 1.88.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.12. United States Steel had a return on equity of 7.93% and a net margin of 3.40%. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.92 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that United States Steel Co. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.51%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

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.