Rakuten Securities Inc. Decreases Position in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)

Rakuten Securities Inc. trimmed its position in shares of United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) by 12.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 408 shares during the quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in United States Steel were worth $99,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empirical Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in United States Steel during the fourth quarter worth $525,000. ARS Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in United States Steel during the fourth quarter worth $15,510,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 646.0% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 506,694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,902,000 after acquiring an additional 438,771 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,839,684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $135,691,000 after acquiring an additional 37,528 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,600,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $91,883,000 after acquiring an additional 28,293 shares in the last quarter. 81.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

X has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on United States Steel from $39.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on United States Steel from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Bank of America initiated coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on United States Steel from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, United States Steel presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.70.

United States Steel Stock Performance

United States Steel stock opened at $38.11 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.58, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $36.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.64. United States Steel Co. has a 52 week low of $26.92 and a 52 week high of $46.77. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.38). United States Steel had a net margin of 2.46% and a return on equity of 4.27%. Equities research analysts anticipate that United States Steel Co. will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 10th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.52%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.42%.

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.