United States Steel (NYSE:X) Issues Q4 Earnings Guidance

United States Steel (NYSE:X) issued an update on its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Thursday morning. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $(0.29)-(0.25) for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.22.

United States Steel Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of United States Steel stock traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $31.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,982,721 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,590,344. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a market capitalization of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.87 and a beta of 1.83. United States Steel has a one year low of $26.92 and a one year high of $48.95. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.83.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. United States Steel had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 2.41%. The firm’s revenue was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.36 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that United States Steel will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. United States Steel’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. Glj Research upgraded United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. BNP Paribas upgraded United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.80.

About United States Steel

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates through North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular) segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke.