Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

WS has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Worthington Steel from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Worthington Steel currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $36.00.

Worthington Steel Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of WS opened at $31.33 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $31.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $29.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.66. Worthington Steel has a 52-week low of $21.30 and a 52-week high of $47.19. The company has a market cap of $1.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 1.76.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, September 24th. The company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.72 by $0.05. Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 10.11% and a net margin of 3.80%.The firm had revenue of $872.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $785.30 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Worthington Steel will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Worthington Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 12th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 12th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Worthington Steel’s payout ratio is presently 29.36%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Worthington Steel

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WS. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Worthington Steel during the first quarter worth $8,901,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 966.1% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 269,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,818,000 after purchasing an additional 243,912 shares during the period. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 154.3% during the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 340,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,165,000 after purchasing an additional 206,752 shares during the period. CSM Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Worthington Steel during the second quarter worth $5,416,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Worthington Steel during the first quarter worth $4,485,000. 45.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Worthington Steel Company Profile

Worthington Steel, Inc operates as a steel processor in North America. It offers carbon flat-rolled steel and tailor welded blanks, as well as electrical steel laminations; and aluminum tailor welded blanks. The company serves various end-markets, including automotive, heavy truck, agriculture, construction, and energy.