UBS Group AG Cuts Stake in Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

UBS Group AG cut its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) by 47.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 70,569 shares of the company’s stock after selling 63,905 shares during the period. UBS Group AG’s holdings in Worthington Steel were worth $2,443,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,287,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,438,000 after purchasing an additional 217,090 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Worthington Steel by 1.3% in the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,462,097 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,823,000 after buying an additional 32,717 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised 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 buying an additional 847,981 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Worthington Steel by 51.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 609,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,532,000 after acquiring an additional 206,778 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 530,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,351,000 after acquiring an additional 16,653 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Worthington Steel in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Worthington Steel presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of Worthington Steel stock opened at $41.18 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $2.09 billion, a PE ratio of 24.22 and a beta of 2.23. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $35.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.95. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a 1 year low of $24.23 and a 1 year high of $49.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 1.48 and a quick ratio of 0.90.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $882.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Worthington Steel’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Worthington Steel Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be issued 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 1.6%. Worthington Steel’s payout ratio is presently 37.65%.

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.