Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Stock Jumps 5.4% – Still a Buy?

Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) shares shot up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday. The stock traded as high as $36.60 and last traded at $36.57. 132,148 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 54% from the average daily volume of 286,577 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.71.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on WS. Zacks Research lowered shares of Worthington Steel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Worthington Steel from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research note on Monday, June 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Stock Up 2.2%

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $35.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a market capitalization of $1.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07 and a beta of 2.27.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Worthington Steel had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 8.87%. The firm had revenue of $929.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Worthington Steel

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 56.4% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 910 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Worthington Steel by 1,239.3% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 750 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 694 shares in the last quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. now owns 7,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after acquiring an additional 733 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio lifted its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 5.9% during the first quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 21,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $656,000 after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Worthington Steel by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 85,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. 45.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Worthington Steel

Worthington Steel, Inc is a steel processing company that produces value-added flat-rolled steel products for manufacturers and industrial customers. Its operations include steel slitting, cold rolling, coating, electrical steel processing and other specialized treatments designed to meet customers’ product and performance requirements.

The company supplies products and services to a range of end markets, including automotive, electrical infrastructure, construction, energy, industrial equipment and consumer products.