First Trust Advisors LP Sells 199,333 Shares of Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI)

First Trust Advisors LP reduced its stake in Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI - Free Report) by 93.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,719 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 199,333 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP's holdings in Ryerson were worth $272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Barclays PLC grew its position in Ryerson by 167.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,330 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 34,604 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Ryerson by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 44,865 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $830,000 after acquiring an additional 2,140 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in Ryerson by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 30,067 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 2,590 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 202,607 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,750,000 after purchasing an additional 9,840 shares during the period. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ryerson during the fourth quarter worth about $54,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.81% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ryerson from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ryerson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, May 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ryerson

In other news, CFO James J. Claussen sold 6,017 shares of Ryerson stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.30, for a total transaction of $152,230.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 58,773 shares in the company, valued at $1,486,956.90. This trade represents a 9.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward J. Lehner sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total transaction of $247,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 593,228 shares in the company, valued at $14,706,122.12. This represents a 1.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 3.95% of the company's stock.

Ryerson Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE RYI traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $21.31. 31,383 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 297,862. Ryerson Holding Co. has a 1-year low of $17.18 and a 1-year high of $27.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.43. The firm has a market cap of $686.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -81.96 and a beta of 1.64.

Ryerson (NYSE:RYI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.23) by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.16 billion. Ryerson had a negative net margin of 0.19% and a negative return on equity of 0.70%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ryerson Holding Co. will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ryerson Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. Ryerson's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -340.91%.

Ryerson Profile

Ryerson Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, processes and distributes industrial metals in the United States and internationally. It offers a line of products in carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steels, and aluminum, as well as nickel and red metals in various shapes and forms, including coils, sheets, rounds, hexagons, square and flat bars, plates, structural, and tubing.