Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is C$60.06.

Several research analysts have weighed in on RUS shares. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Russel Metals from C$65.00 to C$70.00 in a report on Friday, June 5th. TD upped their price objective on Russel Metals from C$63.00 to C$68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, May 11th. National Bank Financial upped their price objective on Russel Metals from C$51.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Scotia upped their price objective on Russel Metals from C$54.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Russel Metals from C$49.00 to C$58.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th.

Russel Metals Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of RUS opened at C$62.89 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of C$56.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of C$49.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.50, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.86. The company has a market capitalization of C$3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 17.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.16. Russel Metals has a fifty-two week low of C$39.09 and a fifty-two week high of C$64.26.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported C$1.30 earnings per share for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$1.42 billion during the quarter. Russel Metals had a return on equity of 12.22% and a net margin of 4.04%.

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 28th. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.31%.

Insider Transactions at Russel Metals

In other news, insider Martin Leb Juravsky sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$63.28, for a total transaction of C$316,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 12,356 shares in the company, valued at C$781,887.68. This represents a 28.81% decrease in their position. Also, Director James Francis Dinning sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$62.10, for a total value of C$155,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 19,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,195,425. This represents a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 73,935 shares of company stock valued at $4,430,667. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

About Russel Metals

Russel Metals is one of the largest metals distribution companies in North America with a growing focus on value-added processing. It carries on business in three segments: metals service centers, energy field stores and steel distributors. Its network of metals service centers carries an extensive line of metal products in a wide range of sizes, shapes and specifications, including carbon hot rolled and cold finished steel, pipe and tubular products, stainless steel, aluminum and other non-ferrous specialty metals.