United States Steel Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:X)

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors bought 43,758 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 63% compared to the average daily volume of 26,821 put options.

United States Steel Stock Performance

NYSE X opened at $29.39 on Thursday. United States Steel has a fifty-two week low of $26.92 and a fifty-two week high of $50.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.72. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.62 and a beta of 1.93. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $39.75.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.01 billion. United States Steel had a return on equity of 7.93% and a net margin of 3.40%. United States Steel’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.92 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that United States Steel will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.87%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United States Steel

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in United States Steel by 436.4% in the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 214,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,426,000 after buying an additional 174,350 shares during the last quarter. Third Point LLC boosted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Third Point LLC now owns 5,500,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $267,575,000 after acquiring an additional 750,000 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of United States Steel during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,408,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in United States Steel by 94.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 211,043 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,601,000 after purchasing an additional 102,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in United States Steel in the 4th quarter valued at $219,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

X has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. BMO Capital Markets raised United States Steel from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, June 26th. StockNews.com began coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on United States Steel from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of United States Steel in a report on Monday, May 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.13.

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.