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

Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) shares reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as C$50.94 and last traded at C$50.94, with a volume of 43062 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$50.37.

Trending Headlines about Russel Metals

Here are the key news stories impacting Russel Metals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Securities raised its price target to C$57.00 and maintained a “buy” rating (?21.6% upside vs. the cited reference price). This is one of the largest target increases and is a clear bullish catalyst. TD Securities raises target
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its target to C$55.00 and kept an “outperform” rating (?17.3% upside), reinforcing buy-side interest. RBC raises target
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank increased its target to C$54.00 and kept an “outperform” rating (?15.2% upside), adding another institutional vote of confidence. Scotiabank raises target TickerReport item
• Neutral Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus nudged its target to C$50.50 and kept a “hold” rating (?7.7% upside). The smaller increase and neutral stance are less market-moving than the buy/outperform calls. Stifel updates target
• Negative Sentiment: National Bank Financial downgraded Russel Metals from “outperform” to “sector perform” despite raising its target to C$56.00. The downgrade introduces a cautionary note on forward relative performance even though the new target is higher. National Bank downgrades

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on RUS. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$49.00 to C$50.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. TD Securities boosted their price objective on Russel Metals from C$50.00 to C$57.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Russel Metals from C$52.00 to C$54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Russel Metals from C$51.00 to C$55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, National Bank Financial downgraded Russel Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from C$54.00 to C$56.00 in a report on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Russel Metals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of C$54.42.

Russel Metals Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is C$46.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is C$42.98. The stock has a market cap of C$2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.14, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 3.37, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.28.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported C$0.63 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$1.17 billion during the quarter. Russel Metals had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 4.27%.

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.43 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 27th. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.22%.

Russel Metals Company Profile

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.