Ryerson (NYSE:RYZ) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Ryerson Holding (NYSE:RYZ)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $32.70 and last traded at $32.59, with a volume of 26,039 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $31.15.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on RYZ. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ryerson from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research raised shares of Ryerson from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, October 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ryerson from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Ryerson Stock Down 4.3%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.28 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.51. The firm has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.19 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 2.16.

Ryerson (NYSE:RYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $2.18 billion during the quarter. Ryerson had a return on equity of 3.48% and a net margin of 0.21%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ryerson Holding will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Ryerson Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 17th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 3rd. Ryerson’s payout ratio is currently -441.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Ryerson in the second quarter valued at $120,378,000. Platinum Equity Advisors LLC DE acquired a new stake in shares of Ryerson during the second quarter worth about $96,581,404. JB Capital Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ryerson during the second quarter worth about $69,869,242. State Street Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Ryerson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,285,000. Finally, Donald Smith & CO. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ryerson in the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,036,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.81% of the company’s stock.

About Ryerson

Ryerson Holding Corporation is a value-added processor and distributor of industrial metals. The company supplies carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, nickel, and copper products to manufacturers and other industrial customers, offering materials in forms such as sheets, plates, coils, bars, tubes, and structural products.

In addition to distributing metals, Ryerson provides processing and fabrication services designed to prepare materials for customer specifications. These services include cutting, slitting, sawing, forming, machining, and other methods that help customers manage their material requirements and supply chains.

Founded in Chicago in 1842 by Joseph T.