Vanguard Group Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) by 5.3% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,287,641 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 217,090 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 0.08% of Worthington Steel worth $148,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. MAI Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 39.8% during the third quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 37.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 149.9% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,412 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 50.9% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 24.5% during the third quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

Worthington Steel Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of WS opened at $40.56 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.86 and a beta of 2.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.90. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.23 and a 1 year high of $49.17.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $769.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $882.95 million. Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 3.64%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.35 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Worthington Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. Worthington Steel’s payout ratio is currently 37.65%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Worthington Steel in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a report on Monday, April 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Company Profile

Worthington Steel (NYSE: WS) is a leading North American steel processor specializing in the production of flat-rolled, coated and painted sheet and coil products. Operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Worthington Industries, the company serves a broad range of industries, including construction, automotive, appliance, energy and agricultural equipment. Its core business activities encompass the processing, finishing and distribution of carbon and advanced high-strength steels, aluminum and stainless products to manufacturers across the continent.

The company’s product portfolio includes hot-dip galvanizing, galvannealed, aluminized and pre-painted steel products, as well as cold-rolled and hot-rolled coil.