First Trust Advisors LP Has $2.98 Million Stock Position in Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

First Trust Advisors LP cut its holdings in Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) by 20.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 98,301 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,800 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned about 0.19% of Worthington Steel worth $2,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WS. Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its position in Worthington Steel by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 530,069 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,351,000 after purchasing an additional 16,653 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Worthington Steel by 29.9% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 201,425 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,113,000 after buying an additional 46,358 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Worthington Steel during the 4th quarter worth about $1,351,000. Keybank National Association OH acquired a new position in shares of Worthington Steel during the 4th quarter worth about $7,163,000. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 24.3% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 238,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,251,000 after buying an additional 46,665 shares during the last quarter. 45.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings cut Worthington Steel from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Zacks Research raised Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of WS stock opened at $37.22 on Friday. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a 52-week low of $27.22 and a 52-week high of $49.17. The stock has a market cap of $1.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77 and a beta of 2.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.46 and its 200-day moving average is $38.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.46.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $929.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $992.00 million. Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 0.50%.The business’s revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio is 46.04%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Worthington Steel

In other Worthington Steel news, insider Clifford Larivey sold 11,105 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total transaction of $445,199.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 64,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,578,107.72. This trade represents a 14.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Jeffrey R. Klingler sold 20,036 shares of Worthington Steel stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.82, for a total transaction of $877,977.52. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 93,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,084,549.84. This trade represents a 17.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 33,708 shares of company stock valued at $1,431,830 in the last quarter. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.