United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV trimmed its position in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) by 73.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 278,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 755,300 shares during the period. ING Groep NV owned 0.12% of United States Steel worth $9,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Towerview LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Towerview LLC now owns 65,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,296,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in United States Steel by 12.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,580 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $197,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in United States Steel in the third quarter valued at $608,000. Verus Capital Partners LLC grew its position in United States Steel by 88.6% during the 3rd quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC now owns 28,940 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,022,000 after purchasing an additional 13,594 shares during the period. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of United States Steel by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 3,328 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Glj Research upgraded United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of United States Steel from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of United States Steel from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United States Steel currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $42.80.

United States Steel Stock Performance

X opened at $36.38 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $8.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.93 and a beta of 1.86. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $37.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.80. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. United States Steel Co. has a 52-week low of $26.92 and a 52-week high of $50.20.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. United States Steel had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 2.41%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. United States Steel’s revenue was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that United States Steel Co. will post 2.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

United States Steel Company Profile

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates through North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular) segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke.