Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 217,090 Shares of Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) by 5.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,287,641 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 217,090 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 8.44% of Worthington Steel worth $148,438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MAI Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 39.8% during the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Worthington Steel by 37.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Worthington Steel by 149.9% in the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,412 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its holdings in Worthington Steel by 50.9% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 3,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 1,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Frazier Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Worthington Steel by 24.5% in the 3rd quarter. Frazier Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. 45.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Worthington Steel Stock Up 0.3%

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

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

Worthington Steel Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. Worthington Steel’s payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WS. Zacks Research lowered Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on Worthington Steel in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Worthington Steel presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Worthington Steel 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.