Traders Buy High Volume of United States Steel Call Options (NYSE:X)

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 111,124 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 67% compared to the typical volume of 66,520 call options.

Institutional Trading of United States Steel

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. lifted its stake in United States Steel by 7.4% in the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 4,719,845 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $166,752,000 after acquiring an additional 326,876 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,598,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $162,477,000 after purchasing an additional 964,467 shares in the last quarter. KGH Ltd raised its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 68.2% in the 2nd quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 4,255,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $160,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724,670 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,839,684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $135,691,000 after purchasing an additional 37,528 shares during the period. Finally, Alpine Associates Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 13.5% during the second quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 2,667,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,848,000 after purchasing an additional 316,800 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

United States Steel Trading Up 9.5 %

United States Steel stock traded up $2.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $33.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,475,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,659,976. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a 50 day moving average of $37.13 and a 200-day moving average of $37.46. United States Steel has a one year low of $26.92 and a one year high of $48.85. The stock has a market cap of $7.65 billion, a PE ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 1.83.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. United States Steel had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 6.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that United States Steel will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on X shares. BNP Paribas upgraded United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Glj Research raised shares of United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.37.

United States Steel Company 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.