Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $38.75, but opened at $42.24. Worthington Steel shares last traded at $39.62, with a volume of 170,379 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on WS shares. Zacks Research cut Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Worthington Steel from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.00.

Worthington Steel Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.40 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.80. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $34.68 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $32.71.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.01). Worthington Steel had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The firm had revenue of $871.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Worthington Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.96%.

Institutional Trading of Worthington Steel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,462,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,823,000 after acquiring an additional 32,717 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in Worthington Steel by 695.6% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 969,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,475,000 after purchasing an additional 847,981 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Worthington Steel by 0.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 802,320 shares of the company’s stock valued at $23,936,000 after purchasing an additional 7,060 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 51.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 609,810 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,532,000 after purchasing an additional 206,778 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 429.8% in the third quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 513,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after buying an additional 416,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

About Worthington Steel

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.