Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Cuts Position in Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio cut its holdings in Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) by 90.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,603 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,430 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Worthington Steel were worth $49,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WS. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in Worthington Steel by 127.8% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 71,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,169,000 after acquiring an additional 40,097 shares during the period. State of Wyoming boosted its position in Worthington Steel by 61.7% in the first quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 10,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 3,932 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Worthington Steel by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,520,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,485,000 after purchasing an additional 68,775 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 44,807 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,360,000 after purchasing an additional 3,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 24.0% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 20,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $618,000 after purchasing an additional 3,941 shares during the last quarter. 45.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Worthington Steel from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Price Performance

Worthington Steel stock opened at $37.22 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.02. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $49.17. The company has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $929.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $992.00 million. Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 0.50%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.05 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.7%. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.04%.

Insider Transactions at Worthington Steel

In related news, insider Clifford Larivey sold 11,105 shares of Worthington Steel stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total value of $445,199.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 64,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,578,107.72. This trade represents a 14.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey R. Klingler sold 20,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.82, for a total value of $877,977.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 93,212 shares in the company, valued at $4,084,549.84. This represents a 17.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,708 shares of company stock worth $1,431,830. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Worthington Steel Company 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.