Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) by 9.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 157,198 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,252 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Worthington Steel were worth $4,777,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Worthington Steel by 14.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 15,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 89.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 50,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 23,899 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $490,000 after purchasing an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 13.6% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 154,970 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,623,000 after purchasing an additional 18,545 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its holdings in Worthington Steel by 1,294.9% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 14,591 shares of the company’s stock worth $471,000 after purchasing an additional 13,545 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

Worthington Steel Stock Up 0.9%

WS opened at $46.98 on Monday. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a twelve month low of $21.30 and a twelve month high of $49.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $38.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $34.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, December 19th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.01). Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 3.83%.The company had revenue of $871.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $797.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.19 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 13th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Worthington Steel news, Director Jon J. Bowsher bought 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $40.15 per share, for a total transaction of $100,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 17,893 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $718,403.95. This trade represents a 16.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Scott J. Kelly bought 7,000 shares of Worthington Steel stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $39.11 per share, with a total value of $273,770.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 16,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,900.27. This represents a 76.44% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WS has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Worthington Steel from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Zacks Research lowered Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Worthington Steel Profile

Worthington Steel (NYSE: WS) is a leading North American steel processor specializing in the production of flat-rolled, coated and painted sheet and coil products. Operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Worthington Industries, the company serves a broad range of industries, including construction, automotive, appliance, energy and agricultural equipment. Its core business activities encompass the processing, finishing and distribution of carbon and advanced high-strength steels, aluminum and stainless products to manufacturers across the continent.

The company’s product portfolio includes hot-dip galvanizing, galvannealed, aluminized and pre-painted steel products, as well as cold-rolled and hot-rolled coil.