Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

Shares of Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$79.19 and last traded at C$78.55, with a volume of 18133 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at C$70.77.

Analyst Ratings Changes

RUS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Russel Metals from C$63.00 to C$68.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 30th. Scotia boosted their price target on Russel Metals from C$54.00 to C$62.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Russel Metals from C$49.00 to C$58.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Russel Metals from C$51.00 to C$56.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, TD raised their price objective on Russel Metals from C$63.00 to C$68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Russel Metals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$61.17.

Russel Metals Price Performance

The company has a market cap of C$4.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.87, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is C$64.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$55.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.50, a current ratio of 2.86 and a quick ratio of 1.44.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$1.63 EPS for the quarter. Russel Metals had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The business had revenue of C$1.66 billion during the quarter.

Russel Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 28th. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.31%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Russel Metals news, insider John Gregory Reid sold 28,935 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$58.62, for a total transaction of C$1,696,169.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 306,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$17,946,337.14. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director James Francis Dinning sold 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$62.10, for a total value of C$155,250.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 19,250 shares in the company, valued at C$1,195,425. The trade was a 11.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. In the last three months, insiders have sold 63,735 shares of company stock worth $3,849,245. 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.