Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as C$58.55 and last traded at C$58.54, with a volume of 86963 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at C$57.54.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on RUS. Scotia upped their price target on Russel Metals from C$54.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial boosted their target price on Russel Metals from C$60.00 to C$65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Russel Metals from C$55.00 to C$63.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. National Bank Financial lifted their price target on Russel Metals from C$51.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Russel Metals from C$52.00 to C$54.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$59.50.

Russel Metals Trading Up 1.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.50, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.86. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of C$49.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of C$46.31. The stock has a market cap of C$3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.44, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.95.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported C$1.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of C$1.42 billion for the quarter. Russel Metals had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 4.04%.

Russel Metals Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 28th. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio is 48.31%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Brian Robie Hedges sold 4,800 shares of Russel Metals stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$57.00, for a total transaction of C$273,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at C$570,000. The trade was a 32.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 15,000 shares of company stock worth $855,022. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Russel Metals

Russel Metals is one of the largest metals distribution companies in North America with a growing focus on value-added processing. It carries on business in three segments: metals service centers, energy field stores and steel distributors. Its network of metals service centers carries an extensive line of metal products in a wide range of sizes, shapes and specifications, including carbon hot rolled and cold finished steel, pipe and tubular products, stainless steel, aluminum and other non-ferrous specialty metals.