Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) Stock Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS)’s share price passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of C$55.45 and traded as high as C$70.74. Russel Metals shares last traded at C$70.25, with a volume of 107,832 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on RUS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on Russel Metals from C$63.00 to C$68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 30th. Scotia boosted their price objective on Russel Metals from C$54.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Russel Metals from C$49.00 to C$58.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on Russel Metals from C$65.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Friday, June 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$51.00 to C$56.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$61.17.

Russel Metals Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of C$3.86 billion, a PE ratio of 19.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.50, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.86. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is C$64.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$55.45.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$1.63 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$1.66 billion for the quarter. Russel Metals had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 12.22%.

Russel Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.31%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Russel Metals news, Director Brian Robie Hedges sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$63.25, for a total transaction of C$632,500.00. Also, Director James Francis Dinning sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$62.10, for a total value of C$155,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,250 shares in the company, valued at C$1,195,425. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their position. Insiders sold a total of 63,735 shares of company stock worth $3,849,245 over the last quarter. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Russel Metals

Russel Metals is one of the largest metals distribution companies in North America with a growing focus on value-added processing. It carries on business in three segments: metals service centers, energy field stores and steel distributors. Its network of metals service centers carries an extensive line of metal products in a wide range of sizes, shapes and specifications, including carbon hot rolled and cold finished steel, pipe and tubular products, stainless steel, aluminum and other non-ferrous specialty metals.