Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $44.53 and last traded at $44.72, with a volume of 15675 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.97.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Olympic Steel in a research report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.00.

Olympic Steel Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $488.88 million, a P/E ratio of 37.31 and a beta of 1.71. The company’s 50-day moving average is $35.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 3.12 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by ($0.06). Olympic Steel had a return on equity of 2.11% and a net margin of 0.73%.The business had revenue of $490.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $476.20 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Olympic Steel, Inc. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Olympic Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st were paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Olympic Steel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 54.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Olympic Steel

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Olympic Steel by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 610,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,251,000 after buying an additional 2,503 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Olympic Steel by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 364,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,885,000 after acquiring an additional 15,533 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 241,068 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,952 shares in the last quarter. JB Capital Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 222,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,251,000 after purchasing an additional 16,167 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Olympic Steel by 47.4% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 212,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,921,000 after purchasing an additional 68,316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.07% of the company’s stock.

About Olympic Steel

Olympic Steel, Inc is a leading metals service center headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, specializing in the distribution of carbon, stainless, aluminum and alloy sheet, plate, bar, tubing, and piping products. The company offers a broad range of metals in various grades, sizes and dimensions, serving customers across a variety of industries. Olympic Steel operates as a one‐stop source for metals procurement, providing both standard inventory offerings and custom‐cut pieces to meet specific customer requirements.

Through its network of service centers in the United States and Mexico, Olympic Steel provides a suite of value‐added processing services, including precision laser and plasma cutting, shearing, slitting, shearing, forming, plate burning, leveling and robotic welding.