Ameriprise Financial Inc. Buys 16,624 Shares of Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS - Free Report) by 62.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,347 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,624 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.39% of Olympic Steel worth $1,422,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Olympic Steel by 29.0% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,103 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,820 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 60,805 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,995,000 after purchasing an additional 2,934 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 22,080 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Olympic Steel by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 122,269 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,012,000 after purchasing an additional 22,908 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its position in Olympic Steel by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 7,517 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 770 shares during the last quarter. 87.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ZEUS. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Olympic Steel from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered Olympic Steel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st.

Olympic Steel Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ZEUS traded up $0.31 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.86. The stock had a trading volume of 85,782 shares, compared to its average volume of 117,727. The stock has a market capitalization of $355.65 million, a P/E ratio of 16.17 and a beta of 1.75. Olympic Steel, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.32 and a 1-year high of $51.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $31.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.90.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.21 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.03). Olympic Steel had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 3.31%. The business had revenue of $492.94 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $466.80 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Olympic Steel, Inc. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Olympic Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 2nd will be given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 2nd. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.01%. Olympic Steel's dividend payout ratio is 44.76%.

Olympic Steel Profile

Olympic Steel, Inc processes, distributes, and stores metal products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates in three segments: Carbon Flat Products; Specialty Metals Flat Products; and Tubular and Pipe Products. The company offers stainless steel and aluminum coil and sheet products, angles, rounds, and flat bars; alloy, heat treated, and abrasion resistant coils, sheets and plates; coated metals, including galvanized, galvannealed, electro galvanized, advanced high strength steels, aluminized, and automotive grades of steel; commercial quality, advanced high strength steel, drawing steel, and automotive grades cold rolled steel coil and sheet products; hot rolled carbon comprising hot rolled coil, pickled and oiled sheet and plate steel products, automotive grades, advanced high strength steels, and high strength low alloys; tube, pipe, and bar products, including round, square, and rectangular mechanical and structural tubing; hydraulic and stainless tubing; boiler tubing; carbon, stainless, and aluminum pipes; valves and fittings; and tin mill products, such as electrolytic tinplate, electrolytic chromium coated steel, and black plates.