Ryerson (NYSE:RYI) Shares Down 5.4% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI) were down 5.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $23.55 and last traded at $23.13. Approximately 48,386 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 297,507 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Ryerson from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th.

Ryerson Stock Down 6.4 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.85. The company has a market capitalization of $728.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -88.02 and a beta of 1.53. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Ryerson (NYSE:RYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.34. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1 billion. Ryerson had a negative net margin of 0.19% and a negative return on equity of 0.70%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ryerson Holding Co. will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ryerson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. Ryerson’s payout ratio is -288.46%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Edward J. Lehner sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total value of $247,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 593,228 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,706,122.12. This represents a 1.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO James J. Claussen sold 6,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.30, for a total transaction of $152,230.10. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 58,773 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,956.90. The trade was a 9.29 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.95% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RYI. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 85.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,329,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,075,963 shares during the last quarter. Frontier Capital Management Co. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ryerson in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,255,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 31.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 847,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,874,000 after purchasing an additional 203,314 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 4.0% in the third quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 2,131,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,430,000 after purchasing an additional 82,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 930,439 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,222,000 after purchasing an additional 68,022 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.81% of the company’s stock.

Ryerson Company Profile

Ryerson Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, processes and distributes industrial metals in the United States and internationally. It offers a line of products in carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steels, and aluminum, as well as nickel and red metals in various shapes and forms, including coils, sheets, rounds, hexagons, square and flat bars, plates, structural, and tubing.