Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 287,400 shares, an increase of 24.0% from the February 28th total of 231,700 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 95,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Olympic Steel Stock Down 0.4 %

ZEUS stock opened at $31.40 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $349.67 million, a PE ratio of 15.94 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.35. Olympic Steel has a fifty-two week low of $30.29 and a fifty-two week high of $73.27. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $418.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $441.60 million. Olympic Steel had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 3.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Olympic Steel will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Olympic Steel Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.16 dividend. This is a boost from Olympic Steel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Olympic Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 32.49%.

Institutional Trading of Olympic Steel

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZEUS. FMR LLC increased its holdings in shares of Olympic Steel by 423.4% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,496 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,735,000 after purchasing an additional 35,995 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Olympic Steel by 68.3% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 8,594 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 3,489 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in Olympic Steel by 103.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 11,224 shares during the period. Walleye Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Olympic Steel during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,978,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Olympic Steel in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $632,000. Institutional investors own 87.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp upped their target price on Olympic Steel from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com lowered Olympic Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st.

Olympic Steel Company Profile

Olympic Steel, Inc processes, distributes, and stores metal products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates in three segments: Carbon Flat Products; Specialty Metals Flat Products; and Tubular and Pipe Products. The company offers stainless steel and aluminum coil and sheet products, angles, rounds, and flat bars; alloy, heat treated, and abrasion resistant coils, sheets and plates; coated metals, including galvanized, galvannealed, electro galvanized, advanced high strength steels, aluminized, and automotive grades of steel; commercial quality, advanced high strength steel, drawing steel, and automotive grades cold rolled steel coil and sheet products; hot rolled carbon comprising hot rolled coil, pickled and oiled sheet and plate steel products, automotive grades, advanced high strength steels, and high strength low alloys; tube, pipe, and bar products, including round, square, and rectangular mechanical and structural tubing; hydraulic and stainless tubing; boiler tubing; carbon, stainless, and aluminum pipes; valves and fittings; and tin mill products, such as electrolytic tinplate, electrolytic chromium coated steel, and black plates.