United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) Receives $40.62 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.62.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of United States Steel from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Glj Research upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com started coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th.

United States Steel Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of X stock opened at $37.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.72 and a quick ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $8.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.95 and a beta of 1.87. United States Steel has a 1 year low of $26.92 and a 1 year high of $50.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.91.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.12. United States Steel had a return on equity of 7.93% and a net margin of 3.40%. The firm had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.01 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.92 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that United States Steel will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.93%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in X. KGH Ltd lifted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 68.2% during the 2nd quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 4,255,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $160,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,724,670 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 4,305.6% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,634,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $137,379,000 after buying an additional 3,551,870 shares in the last quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of United States Steel by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alpine Associates Management Inc. now owns 2,667,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,848,000 after acquiring an additional 316,800 shares in the last quarter. Murchinson Ltd. raised its stake in shares of United States Steel by 66.5% during the 1st quarter. Murchinson Ltd. now owns 2,100,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $85,638,000 after acquiring an additional 838,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Water Island Capital LLC lifted its position in United States Steel by 5.3% during the second quarter. Water Island Capital LLC now owns 906,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,250,000 after acquiring an additional 45,567 shares during the last quarter. 81.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.