Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $48.71 and last traded at $48.85, with a volume of 9134 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.09.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Olympic Steel in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $38.00.

Olympic Steel Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $540.06 million, a P/E ratio of 41.21 and a beta of 1.74. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $34.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 3.12 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.06). Olympic Steel had a net margin of 0.73% and a return on equity of 2.11%. The company had revenue of $490.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $476.20 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Olympic Steel, Inc. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olympic Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 1st. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.3%. Olympic Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Andrew S. Greiff sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.42, for a total transaction of $181,890.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $485,767.56. This trade represents a 27.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 13.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ZEUS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Olympic Steel by 823.3% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Olympic Steel during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in Olympic Steel in the 3rd quarter valued at about $58,000. CoreCap Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Olympic Steel by 41.2% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 3,669 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $112,000 after acquiring an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Olympic Steel in the third quarter valued at $142,000. 87.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Olympic Steel Company Profile

Olympic Steel, Inc is a leading metals service center headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, specializing in the distribution of carbon, stainless, aluminum and alloy sheet, plate, bar, tubing, and piping products. The company offers a broad range of metals in various grades, sizes and dimensions, serving customers across a variety of industries. Olympic Steel operates as a one‐stop source for metals procurement, providing both standard inventory offerings and custom‐cut pieces to meet specific customer requirements.

Through its network of service centers in the United States and Mexico, Olympic Steel provides a suite of value‐added processing services, including precision laser and plasma cutting, shearing, slitting, shearing, forming, plate burning, leveling and robotic welding.