Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Downgraded to “Buy” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on WS. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Worthington Steel in a report on Wednesday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Worthington Steel from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Trading Down 5.8%

NYSE:WS opened at $28.05 on Friday. Worthington Steel has a 1 year low of $21.30 and a 1 year high of $49.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.77 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.76 and a beta of 1.62.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, March 25th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.20). Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 3.64%.The company had revenue of $769.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $882.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.35 earnings per share. Worthington Steel’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Worthington Steel will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 12th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 12th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.96%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Scott J. Kelly purchased 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $39.11 per share, with a total value of $273,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 16,157 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $631,900.27. This represents a 76.44% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Jon J. Bowsher bought 2,500 shares of Worthington Steel 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 acquisition, the director owned 17,893 shares in the company, valued at $718,403.95. This represents a 16.24% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Worthington Steel

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in Worthington Steel by 695.6% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 969,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,475,000 after purchasing an additional 847,981 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its stake in Worthington Steel by 429.8% in the 3rd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 513,416 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,603,000 after buying an additional 416,509 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its stake in Worthington Steel by 563.7% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 365,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,660,000 after buying an additional 310,572 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Worthington Steel by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,287,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,438,000 after buying an additional 217,090 shares during the period. Finally, Keybank National Association OH purchased a new stake in Worthington Steel in the 4th quarter valued at about $7,163,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

Key Worthington Steel News

Here are the key news stories impacting Worthington Steel this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.16/share (annualized yield ~2.1%), which supports shareholder income and signals management’s confidence in cash flow. MarketBeat WS page
• Positive Sentiment: Worthington is pursuing a strategic acquisition of Kloeckner with a target close in H2 2026; management highlighted automotive share gains and AI-driven transformation as growth levers — a potential long-term revenue/margin booster if integration goes well. Acquisition article
• Neutral Sentiment: Broker coverage initiated by KeyCorp (initiation can increase visibility and trading liquidity); check the initiation note for rating/price-target details once available. KeyCorp initiation
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcript, slide deck and presentations are available for details on segment performance, margin drivers and management commentary — useful for judging forward guidance and integration plans. Earnings transcript Press release / slide deck
• Negative Sentiment: Q3 results missed materially: GAAP EPS $0.27 vs. consensus ~$0.47 and revenue $769.8M vs. ~$883M — the earnings and revenue shortfall is the primary catalyst for the stock weakness as it raises concerns about near-term margins and demand timing. Zacks earnings coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentary and pre-market stories flagged the downbeat results and put the stock under selling pressure; some retail/idea pieces call out a double-digit intraday decline, amplifying negative sentiment and volume. MSN market reaction AAII note

About Worthington Steel

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.