United States Steel (NYSE:X) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)’s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $32.60, but opened at $30.35. United States Steel shares last traded at $30.42, with a volume of 6,855,722 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

X has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BNP Paribas raised shares of United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Glj Research raised United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.37.

United States Steel Trading Down 6.7 %

The company has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01 and a beta of 1.88. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. United States Steel had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 2.41%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.36 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that United States Steel Co. will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is 13.16%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On United States Steel

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 4,305.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,634,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,379,000 after buying an additional 3,551,870 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new position in United States Steel in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $91,712,000. KGH Ltd lifted its position in United States Steel by 68.2% in the 2nd quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 4,255,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $160,839,000 after acquiring an additional 1,724,670 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in United States Steel during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,620,000. Finally, Forest Avenue Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of United States Steel in the 2nd quarter worth $22,770,000. 81.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United States Steel Company Profile

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.