Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 62,042 Shares of Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

Key Points

• Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Worthington Steel by 1.4%, owning approximately 8.93% of the company, which is valued at around $114.73 million.
• Worthington Steel reported quarterly earnings of $1.05 per share, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $0.83, with a total revenue of $832.90 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, equating to an annualized dividend of $0.64, representing a yield of 2.0%.

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,529,470 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 62,042 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 8.93% of Worthington Steel worth $114,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in WS. LPL Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 16,632 shares of the company's stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 30,424 shares of the company's stock worth $968,000 after purchasing an additional 3,734 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,848 shares of the company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 100,555 shares of the company's stock worth $3,200,000 after purchasing an additional 3,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Worthington Steel in the fourth quarter worth approximately $290,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, July 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Worthington Steel currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.00.

Worthington Steel Stock Performance

WS traded down $0.12 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $33.47. The stock had a trading volume of 210,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 197,866. The stock has a market cap of $1.70 billion, a PE ratio of 15.35 and a beta of 1.87. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a one year low of $21.30 and a one year high of $47.19. The business has a 50-day moving average of $30.98 and a 200-day moving average of $27.75.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $1.05 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $832.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $800.45 million. Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 3.58%.The firm's revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Worthington Steel Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. Worthington Steel's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.36%.

Worthington Steel Profile

Worthington Steel, Inc operates as a steel processor in North America. It offers carbon flat-rolled steel and tailor welded blanks, as well as electrical steel laminations; and aluminum tailor welded blanks. The company serves various end-markets, including automotive, heavy truck, agriculture, construction, and energy.