Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 516,357 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,721 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.23% of United States Steel worth $17,551,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of X. Ameliora Wealth Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of United States Steel during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of United States Steel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of United States Steel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of United States Steel during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of United States Steel by 4,680.0% during the 4th quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 1,195 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on X. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on United States Steel from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America began coverage on United States Steel in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of United States Steel in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on United States Steel from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United States Steel currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.82.

United States Steel Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of X opened at $38.12 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.86. United States Steel Co. has a 1 year low of $26.92 and a 1 year high of $48.13. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.91.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.38). United States Steel had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 2.46%. As a group, equities analysts expect that United States Steel Co. will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.52%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.42%.

United States Steel 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.