United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) Short Interest Down 32.1% in September

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 15,950,000 shares, a decline of 32.1% from the September 15th total of 23,480,000 shares. Currently, 7.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 5,650,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

United States Steel Stock Performance

NYSE:X traded up $1.20 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.61. The stock had a trading volume of 2,199,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,161,450. The company has a quick ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock has a market cap of $8.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.34 and a beta of 1.87. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $38.00. United States Steel has a 12-month low of $26.92 and a 12-month high of $50.20.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.72 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $4.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.01 billion. United States Steel had a return on equity of 7.93% and a net margin of 3.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.92 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that United States Steel will post 2.18 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, September 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 12th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.93%.

Institutional Trading of United States Steel

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC purchased a new position in United States Steel during the second quarter worth $26,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in United States Steel in the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Pineridge Advisors LLC purchased a new position in United States Steel in the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 339.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United States Steel during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. 81.92% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

X has been the subject of a number of research reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of United States Steel from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. Glj Research upgraded United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 target price for the company in a report on Monday, September 9th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on United States Steel in a report on Monday, August 19th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.62.

About United States Steel

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.