Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 64,430 Shares of Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI)

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI) by 69.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 28,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 64,430 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Ryerson were worth $530,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in Ryerson during the fourth quarter valued at about $54,000. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 159.7% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,649 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $152,000 after purchasing an additional 4,704 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its position in shares of Ryerson by 150.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 6,762 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas acquired a new position in shares of Ryerson in the fourth quarter valued at $329,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Ryerson in the fourth quarter worth $339,000. 94.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ryerson from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James J. Claussen sold 6,017 shares of Ryerson stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.30, for a total value of $152,230.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 58,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,486,956.90. The trade was a 9.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward J. Lehner sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total transaction of $247,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 593,228 shares in the company, valued at $14,706,122.12. The trade was a 1.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.95% of the company’s stock.

Ryerson Stock Down 3.3 %

NYSE RYI opened at $20.82 on Wednesday. Ryerson Holding Co. has a 1-year low of $17.18 and a 1-year high of $34.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.19. The company has a market capitalization of $663.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -80.08 and a beta of 1.35.

Ryerson (NYSE:RYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.48) by $0.34. The firm had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. Ryerson had a negative return on equity of 0.70% and a negative net margin of 0.19%. Equities analysts forecast that Ryerson Holding Co. will post 1.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ryerson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 6th were given a $0.1875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 6th. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. Ryerson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -288.46%.

About Ryerson

Ryerson Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, processes and distributes industrial metals in the United States and internationally. It offers a line of products in carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steels, and aluminum, as well as nickel and red metals in various shapes and forms, including coils, sheets, rounds, hexagons, square and flat bars, plates, structural, and tubing.