ArcelorMittal S.A. (NYSE:MT) Short Interest Up 29.6% in October

ArcelorMittal S.A. (NYSE:MT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,480,000 shares, a growth of 29.6% from the September 30th total of 4,230,000 shares. Currently, 0.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,640,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of ArcelorMittal from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised ArcelorMittal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $29.00 to $31.00 in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays raised ArcelorMittal from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.30.

ArcelorMittal Price Performance

Shares of ArcelorMittal stock traded down $0.13 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $24.81. 283,244 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,590,940. The company has a market cap of $19.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.02, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $23.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.09. ArcelorMittal has a twelve month low of $20.52 and a twelve month high of $29.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.66.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.12 by ($0.49). The company had revenue of $16.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.32 billion. ArcelorMittal had a negative net margin of 0.93% and a positive return on equity of 6.00%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.20 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that ArcelorMittal will post 3 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in ArcelorMittal by 1,820.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,016 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 1,911 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of ArcelorMittal by 1,388.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 2,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 2,069 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of ArcelorMittal by 298.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 1,771 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of ArcelorMittal during the first quarter worth $71,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in ArcelorMittal by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $117,000 after purchasing an additional 818 shares during the last quarter. 9.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

ArcelorMittal Company Profile

ArcelorMittal SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated steel and mining companies in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It offers semi-finished flat products, including slabs; finished flat products comprising plates, hot- and cold-rolled coils and sheets, hot-dipped and electro-galvanized coils and sheets, tinplate, and color coated coils and sheets; semi-finished long products, such as blooms and billets; finished long products consisting of bars, wire-rods, structural sections, rails, sheet piles, and wire-products; and seamless and welded pipes and tubes.