Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts rate Russel Metals a “Moderate Buy”: five of eight analysts recommend buying the stock, while three rate it a hold. The average 12-month price target is C$76.89, with several firms recently raising their targets.
• Insiders have been selling shares, including an executive and a director who together sold nearly C$697,000 in mid-August. Insiders have sold approximately C$4.0 million worth of stock over the past 90 days.
• Russel Metals reported quarterly EPS of C$1.63 on revenue of C$1.66 billion and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, representing a 2.4% annualized yield.

Shares of Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is C$76.89.

Several research firms have recently commented on RUS. TD raised their price objective on Russel Metals from C$68.00 to C$94.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$64.00 to C$85.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. National Bank Financial lifted their price target on shares of Russel Metals from C$57.00 to C$75.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Monday, August 10th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Russel Metals from C$76.00 to C$89.00 and gave the stock a "sector outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$68.00 to C$92.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 10th.

Insider Activity at Russel Metals

In other news, insider Martin Leb Juravsky sold 5,682 shares of Russel Metals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$80.40, for a total transaction of C$456,832.80. Following the sale, the insider owned 6,674 shares in the company, valued at C$536,589.60. This trade represents a 45.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Also, Director James Francis Dinning sold 3,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of C$80.00, for a total transaction of C$240,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 16,250 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately C$1,300,000. This represents a 15.58% decrease in their position. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 53,682 shares of company stock valued at $3,998,583. 0.85% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Russel Metals Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of RUS stock opened at C$73.77 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of C$69.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of C$58.81. The stock has a market cap of C$4.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.21. Russel Metals has a 12 month low of C$39.09 and a 12 month high of C$83.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 27.88.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported C$1.63 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of C$1.66 billion for the quarter. Russel Metals had a return on equity of 13.09% and a net margin of 4.04%.

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.44 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 28th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.4%. Russel Metals's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.13%.

About Russel Metals

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.

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