ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $53.80, but opened at $60.29. ArcelorMittal shares last traded at $60.0550, with a volume of 847,701 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of ArcelorMittal in a report on Friday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised ArcelorMittal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $51.10 to $73.20 in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on ArcelorMittal from $47.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Santander upgraded shares of ArcelorMittal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on shares of ArcelorMittal in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued a “sector weight” rating on the stock. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.73.

ArcelorMittal Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $57.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.90. The company has a market capitalization of $46.96 billion, a PE ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.49.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.86 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.56 billion. ArcelorMittal had a net margin of 5.14% and a return on equity of 5.27%. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that ArcelorMittal will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current year.

ArcelorMittal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 13th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. ArcelorMittal’s payout ratio is 12.44%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of ArcelorMittal by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,220,992 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $146,780,000 after acquiring an additional 49,614 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in ArcelorMittal by 42.4% during the 4th quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,630,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $74,306,000 after purchasing an additional 485,400 shares during the period. UBS Group AG boosted its stake in ArcelorMittal by 405.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,181,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,706,000 after purchasing an additional 947,532 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in ArcelorMittal by 15.6% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 947,909 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,267,000 after purchasing an additional 128,045 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new position in ArcelorMittal in the fourth quarter valued at $30,721,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 9.29% of the company’s stock.

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal is a multinational steel manufacturing company formed in 2006 through the merger of Arcelor and Mittal Steel. Headquartered in Luxembourg, the company is one of the world’s largest producers of steel and operates an integrated value chain that spans raw material extraction, steelmaking, processing and distribution. Its product portfolio includes flat and long carbon steel products, coated and specialty steels, tubular products and value-added solutions tailored for sectors such as automotive, construction, household appliances, energy and packaging.

ArcelorMittal’s operations are global in scope, with production facilities, distribution networks and commercial activities across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States.