Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS Shares Purchased by Windsor Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• Windsor Advisory Group increased its Worthington Steel stake by 32.9% in Q1, bringing its holdings to 275,885 shares and making WS its fourth-largest position.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans positive: the stock has a consensus Buy rating with an average target price of $46.00, though recent opinions ranged from Hold to Strong Buy.
• Worthington Steel reported Q4 earnings of $0.74 per share, slightly above estimates, while revenue of $929.2 million fell short of expectations; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share.

Windsor Advisory Group LLC lifted its holdings in Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS - Free Report) by 32.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 275,885 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 68,330 shares during the period. Worthington Steel makes up approximately 7.0% of Windsor Advisory Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Windsor Advisory Group LLC owned approximately 0.54% of Worthington Steel worth $8,373,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,287,641 shares of the company's stock valued at $148,438,000 after purchasing an additional 217,090 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Worthington Steel by 2.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,520,318 shares of the company's stock worth $76,485,000 after purchasing an additional 68,775 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its holdings in Worthington Steel by 695.6% in the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 969,887 shares of the company's stock worth $29,475,000 after purchasing an additional 847,981 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Worthington Steel by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 811,832 shares of the company's stock worth $28,106,000 after purchasing an additional 102,188 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in Worthington Steel by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 530,069 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,351,000 after buying an additional 16,653 shares during the period. 45.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

WS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a report on Friday, July 17th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Worthington Steel from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $46.00.

Insider Transactions at Worthington Steel

In related news, insider Clifford Larivey sold 11,105 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total value of $445,199.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 64,308 shares in the company, valued at $2,578,107.72. This trade represents a 14.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey R. Klingler sold 20,036 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.82, for a total value of $877,977.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 93,212 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,084,549.84. This represents a 17.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 33,708 shares of company stock valued at $1,431,830 over the last ninety days. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Worthington Steel Stock Performance

Shares of Worthington Steel stock opened at $35.93 on Friday. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a one year low of $27.22 and a one year high of $49.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.85 and a beta of 2.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.92.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 8.85% and a net margin of 0.50%.The business had revenue of $929.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Worthington Steel's dividend payout ratio is presently 46.04%.

Worthington Steel Profile

Worthington Steel NYSE: WS is a leading North American steel processor specializing in the production of flat-rolled, coated and painted sheet and coil products. Operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Worthington Industries, the company serves a broad range of industries, including construction, automotive, appliance, energy and agricultural equipment. Its core business activities encompass the processing, finishing and distribution of carbon and advanced high-strength steels, aluminum and stainless products to manufacturers across the continent.

The company’s product portfolio includes hot-dip galvanizing, galvannealed, aluminized and pre-painted steel products, as well as cold-rolled and hot-rolled coil.

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