United States Steel (NYSE:X) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $40.95, but opened at $38.62. United States Steel shares last traded at $37.75, with a volume of 3,585,706 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on X. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of United States Steel in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas upgraded United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on United States Steel from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Glj Research raised United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 price target for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United States Steel has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.80.

United States Steel Trading Down 8.4 %

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $38.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.94. 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 $8.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.84 and a beta of 1.83.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. United States Steel had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 2.41%. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that United States Steel Co. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 8th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Institutional Trading of United States Steel

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 31.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 12,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $507,000 after buying an additional 3,010 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. boosted its position in shares of United States Steel by 3,673.0% during the second quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 11,319 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $462,000 after buying an additional 11,019 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in United States Steel by 54.5% in the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,856 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $146,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in United States Steel in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $7,171,000. Finally, Sanders Morris Harris LLC acquired a new position in United States Steel during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,560,000. Institutional investors own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

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.