BMO Capital Markets Cuts United States Steel (NYSE:X) Price Target to $40.00

United States Steel (NYSE:X) had its price objective decreased by BMO Capital Markets from $43.00 to $40.00 in a research note released on Friday,Benzinga reports. BMO Capital Markets currently has an outperform rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on X. Glj Research upgraded United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BNP Paribas raised shares of 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, United States Steel currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $42.37.

United States Steel Trading Down 5.0 %

X opened at $30.14 on Friday. United States Steel has a fifty-two week low of $26.92 and a fifty-two week high of $48.95. The company has a market cap of $6.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.83 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $37.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.72.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. United States Steel had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 2.41%. The company’s revenue was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that United States Steel will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. United States Steel’s payout ratio is 13.16%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United States Steel

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of X. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in shares of United States Steel during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Palouse Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in United States Steel during the third quarter worth about $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in United States Steel by 339.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the period. Gladius Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of United States Steel during the third quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of United States Steel during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Hedge funds and other 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.