Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. Has $498,000 Stake in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)

Meridian Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its stake in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) by 2.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 300 shares during the period. Meridian Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in United States Steel were worth $498,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in X. Water Island Capital LLC raised its position in United States Steel by 5.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 45,567 shares during the last quarter. KGH Ltd boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,724,670 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in United States Steel by 88.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,940 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after acquiring an additional 13,594 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in United States Steel by 94.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 211,043 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,601,000 after acquiring an additional 102,450 shares during the period. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL raised its stake in shares of United States Steel by 146.4% during the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 26,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,060,000 after acquiring an additional 15,450 shares during the last quarter. 81.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

United States Steel Stock Performance

Shares of X stock opened at $35.72 on Friday. United States Steel Co. has a 52 week low of $26.92 and a 52 week high of $50.20. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.78. The firm has a market cap of $8.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.50 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.67.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that United States Steel Co. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.56%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on X shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on United States Steel from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. 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 research report on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on United States Steel in a report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.80.

United States Steel Company Profile

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.