Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) Director Brian Robie Hedges Acquires 1,000 Shares of Stock

Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) Director Brian Robie Hedges bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of C$80.48 per share, for a total transaction of C$80,480.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$80,480. This represents a ∞ increase in their position.

Brian Robie Hedges also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, August 11th, Brian Robie Hedges sold 25,000 shares of Russel Metals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$81.54, for a total value of C$2,038,500.00.
• On Tuesday, June 9th, Brian Robie Hedges sold 10,000 shares of Russel Metals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of C$63.25, for a total value of C$632,500.00.
• On Thursday, May 28th, Brian Robie Hedges sold 5,000 shares of Russel Metals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of C$62.10, for a total transaction of C$310,500.00.

Russel Metals Price Performance

Shares of RUS opened at C$80.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.88. The company has a market cap of C$4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.21. Russel Metals Inc. has a twelve month low of C$39.09 and a twelve month high of C$83.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of C$66.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$56.60.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$1.63 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$1.66 billion during the quarter. Russel Metals had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 4.04%.

Russel Metals Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

RUS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Russel Metals from C$76.00 to C$89.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Scotia increased their price objective on Russel Metals from C$54.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. National Bank Financial upped their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$57.00 to C$75.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday. TD boosted their target price on Russel Metals from C$68.00 to C$94.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Russel Metals from C$68.00 to C$92.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$76.89.

Key Stories Impacting Russel Metals

Here are the key news stories impacting Russel Metals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: TD Securities, Stifel Nicolaus and RBC each reported expectations for further price appreciation in Russel Metals, reinforcing the recent bullish sentiment. TD analyst expects Russel Metals stock to rise Stifel Nicolaus expects Russel Metals stock to rise RBC forecasts strong price appreciation for Russel Metals
• Positive Sentiment: Higher Scotiabank target: Scotiabank raised its price target to C$89.00, implying additional upside from the stock’s recent trading level and providing a significant near-term catalyst. Scotiabank raises Russel Metals price target
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider transactions were mixed: Director Brian Robie Hedges bought 1,000 shares for approximately C$80,480 on August 13, but this followed the sale of 25,000 shares for approximately C$2.04 million on August 11. The net reduction in his holdings is a cautionary signal, although the new purchase may indicate some continued confidence. Russel Metals insider transactions
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and consensus risk: The reported analyst consensus target of C$61.17 is well below the recent share price, suggesting that some analysts view the stock as fully valued or vulnerable to a pullback. Raymond James also downgraded Russel Metals to Hold, tempering the impact of the more bullish forecasts. Russel Metals consensus price target Raymond James downgrades Russel Metals to Hold

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.