Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Worthington Steel in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Stock Performance

Shares of WS opened at $28.05 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.55. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.62. Worthington Steel has a 52-week low of $21.30 and a 52-week high of $49.17.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.20). Worthington Steel had a net margin of 3.64% and a return on equity of 10.12%. The company had revenue of $769.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $882.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Worthington Steel will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Worthington Steel news, Director Jon J. Bowsher bought 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $40.15 per share, for a total transaction of $100,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 17,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,403.95. The trade was a 16.24% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Scott J. Kelly bought 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $39.11 per share, for a total transaction of $273,770.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 16,157 shares in the company, valued at approximately $631,900.27. This trade represents a 76.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Worthington Steel

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WS. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in Worthington Steel by 1,239.3% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 750 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the last quarter. Torren Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Worthington Steel in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. MAI Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 39.8% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Worthington Steel during the second quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

Key Worthington Steel News

Here are the key news stories impacting Worthington Steel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.16/share (annualized yield ~2.1%), which supports shareholder income and signals management’s confidence in cash flow. MarketBeat WS page
• Positive Sentiment: Worthington is pursuing a strategic acquisition of Kloeckner with a target close in H2 2026; management highlighted automotive share gains and AI-driven transformation as growth levers — a potential long-term revenue/margin booster if integration goes well. Acquisition article
• Neutral Sentiment: Broker coverage initiated by KeyCorp (initiation can increase visibility and trading liquidity); check the initiation note for rating/price-target details once available. KeyCorp initiation
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript, slide deck and presentations are available for details on segment performance, margin drivers and management commentary — useful for judging forward guidance and integration plans. Earnings transcript Press release / slide deck
• Negative Sentiment: Q3 results missed materially: GAAP EPS $0.27 vs. consensus ~$0.47 and revenue $769.8M vs. ~$883M — the earnings and revenue shortfall is the primary catalyst for the stock weakness as it raises concerns about near-term margins and demand timing. Zacks earnings coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary and pre-market stories flagged the downbeat results and put the stock under selling pressure; some retail/idea pieces call out a double-digit intraday decline, amplifying negative sentiment and volume. MSN market reaction AAII note

Worthington Steel Company Profile

Worthington Steel (NYSE: WS) is a leading North American steel processor specializing in the production of flat-rolled, coated and painted sheet and coil products. Operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Worthington Industries, the company serves a broad range of industries, including construction, automotive, appliance, energy and agricultural equipment. Its core business activities encompass the processing, finishing and distribution of carbon and advanced high-strength steels, aluminum and stainless products to manufacturers across the continent.

The company’s product portfolio includes hot-dip galvanizing, galvannealed, aluminized and pre-painted steel products, as well as cold-rolled and hot-rolled coil.