Ameriprise Financial Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS)

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

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Olympic Steel by 648.0% in the 4th quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 116,182 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,812,000 after purchasing an additional 100,650 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Olympic Steel during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,035,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Olympic Steel by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 330,113 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,831,000 after acquiring an additional 24,538 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Olympic Steel by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 122,269 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,012,000 after acquiring an additional 22,908 shares during the period. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Olympic Steel by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 99,433 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,262,000 after buying an additional 21,403 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on ZEUS shares. Wall Street Zen cut Olympic Steel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, March 1st. KeyCorp reduced their price target on Olympic Steel from $43.00 to $41.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 6th.

Olympic Steel Price Performance

ZEUS stock traded up $1.63 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $31.12. 114,814 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 117,963. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a current ratio of 3.52. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $31.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.99. The stock has a market cap of $347.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.80 and a beta of 1.75. Olympic Steel, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $26.32 and a fifty-two week high of $52.56.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $492.94 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $466.80 million. Olympic Steel had a return on equity of 3.31% and a net margin of 1.18%. Research analysts predict that Olympic Steel, Inc. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Olympic Steel Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 2nd. Olympic Steel's dividend payout ratio is currently 44.76%.

About Olympic Steel

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.