Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Director Acquires $273,770.00 in Stock

Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) Director Scott Kelly bought 7,000 shares of Worthington Steel 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 $631,900.27. This represents a 76.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Worthington Steel Trading Up 0.2%

WS stock opened at $40.22 on Friday. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $21.30 and a fifty-two week high of $44.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.60 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $36.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.33.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.01). Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 3.83%.The company had revenue of $871.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $797.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.19 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Worthington Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 13th. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.96%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Worthington Steel

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Worthington Steel during the second quarter worth about $25,000. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Worthington Steel during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 57.1% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Torren Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Worthington Steel in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, MAI Capital Management grew its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 39.8% in the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 45.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WS. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Worthington Steel from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

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.