United States Steel (NYSE:X) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $40.51, but opened at $39.25. United States Steel shares last traded at $39.77, with a volume of 660,338 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

X has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of United States Steel in a research note on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Glj Research upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, September 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United States Steel presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $42.80.

United States Steel Stock Down 3.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.85. The stock has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68 and a beta of 1.86.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. United States Steel had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 6.01%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that United States Steel Co. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. United States Steel’s payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

Institutional Trading of United States Steel

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in United States Steel by 41.2% in the first quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 6,589 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $269,000 after purchasing an additional 1,921 shares in the last quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 136,016 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,545,000 after buying an additional 2,544 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL grew its position in shares of United States Steel by 146.4% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 26,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,060,000 after buying an additional 15,450 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. increased its stake in shares of United States Steel by 142.0% during the first quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 35,082 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,431,000 after buying an additional 20,584 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 94.3% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 211,043 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,601,000 after acquiring an additional 102,450 shares in the last quarter. 81.92% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.