Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$76.89.

Several research firms have recently commented on RUS. TD raised their price objective on Russel Metals from C$68.00 to C$94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$64.00 to C$85.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. National Bank Financial lifted their price target on shares of Russel Metals from C$57.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Russel Metals from C$76.00 to C$89.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$68.00 to C$92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

Insider Activity at Russel Metals

In other news, insider Martin Leb Juravsky sold 5,682 shares of Russel Metals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$80.40, for a total transaction of C$456,832.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,674 shares in the company, valued at C$536,589.60. This trade represents a 45.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director James Francis Dinning sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$80.00, for a total transaction of C$240,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,300,000. This represents a 15.58% decrease in their position. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,682 shares of company stock valued at $3,998,583. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Russel Metals Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of RUS stock opened at C$73.77 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$69.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$58.81. The stock has a market cap of C$4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.21. Russel Metals has a 12 month low of C$39.09 and a 12 month high of C$83.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.88.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$1.63 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$1.66 billion for the quarter. Russel Metals had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 4.04%.

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.13%.

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.