Short Interest in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Increases By 24.0%

Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 287,400 shares, a growth of 24.0% from the February 28th total of 231,700 shares. Approximately 3.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 95,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Olympic Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Olympic Steel from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th.

Olympic Steel Stock Performance

Shares of ZEUS opened at $31.52 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market cap of $351.01 million, a PE ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.48. Olympic Steel has a 12 month low of $30.29 and a 12 month high of $73.27. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $33.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.40.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.08 by $0.05. Olympic Steel had a return on equity of 3.31% and a net margin of 1.18%. The company had revenue of $418.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $441.60 million. Equities research analysts predict that Olympic Steel will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Olympic Steel Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Olympic Steel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. Olympic Steel’s payout ratio is 32.49%.

Institutional Trading of Olympic Steel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZEUS. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Olympic Steel by 423.4% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 44,496 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,735,000 after buying an additional 35,995 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its position in Olympic Steel by 68.3% during the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 8,594 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 3,489 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 103.4% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 22,081 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $861,000 after buying an additional 11,224 shares during the last quarter. Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Olympic Steel during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,978,000. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Olympic Steel in the 3rd quarter valued at about $632,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.07% of the company’s stock.

About Olympic Steel

Olympic Steel, Inc processes, distributes, and stores metal products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates in three segments: Carbon Flat Products; Specialty Metals Flat Products; and Tubular and Pipe Products. The company offers stainless steel and aluminum coil and sheet products, angles, rounds, and flat bars; alloy, heat treated, and abrasion resistant coils, sheets and plates; coated metals, including galvanized, galvannealed, electro galvanized, advanced high strength steels, aluminized, and automotive grades of steel; commercial quality, advanced high strength steel, drawing steel, and automotive grades cold rolled steel coil and sheet products; hot rolled carbon comprising hot rolled coil, pickled and oiled sheet and plate steel products, automotive grades, advanced high strength steels, and high strength low alloys; tube, pipe, and bar products, including round, square, and rectangular mechanical and structural tubing; hydraulic and stainless tubing; boiler tubing; carbon, stainless, and aluminum pipes; valves and fittings; and tin mill products, such as electrolytic tinplate, electrolytic chromium coated steel, and black plates.