United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $39.82.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on X. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on United States Steel from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Bank of America assumed coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on United States Steel from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th.

United States Steel Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:X opened at $38.30 on Friday. United States Steel has a 52-week low of $26.92 and a 52-week high of $48.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a current ratio of 1.55.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.38). United States Steel had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 2.46%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that United States Steel will post 1.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 10th. United States Steel’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Institutional Trading of United States Steel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of X. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 20,558,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $698,791,000 after buying an additional 186,994 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 9,291,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $315,790,000 after buying an additional 929,762 shares during the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 4,788,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,747,000 after buying an additional 68,230 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,773,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $162,242,000 after buying an additional 174,394 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,862,064 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $131,313,000 after buying an additional 22,380 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

About United States Steel

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.