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

Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as C$59.31 and last traded at C$59.27, with a volume of 15980 shares. The stock had previously closed at C$58.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on RUS shares. Scotia increased their price target on shares of Russel Metals from C$54.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Russel Metals from C$55.00 to C$63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. TD increased their price target on shares of 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. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Russel Metals from C$52.00 to C$54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$50.00 to C$57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of C$59.50.

Russel Metals Trading Up 1.9%

The company has a current ratio of 2.86, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.50. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is C$51.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is C$47.08. The stock has a market capitalization of C$3.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.67, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.95.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported C$1.30 earnings per share for the quarter. Russel Metals had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 12.22%. The firm had revenue of C$1.42 billion during the quarter.

Russel Metals Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.44 per share. This represents a $1.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 28th. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.31%.

Insider Transactions at Russel Metals

In other news, Director Brian Robie Hedges sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$57.00, for a total transaction of C$570,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 30,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately C$1,710,000. This trade represents a 25.00% decrease in their position. Also, insider John Gregory Reid sold 28,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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. Insiders have sold a total of 43,935 shares of company stock valued at $2,551,192 over the last ninety days. 0.85% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.