Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Buys 62,092 Shares of Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI - Free Report) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 542,433 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 62,092 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. owned about 1.70% of Ryerson worth $10,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of RYI. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ryerson in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $54,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in Ryerson by 488.2% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 3,688 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 3,061 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ryerson during the fourth quarter valued at $196,000. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Ryerson by 150.8% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,246 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 6,762 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Ryerson by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,455 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734 shares during the period. 94.81% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on RYI. StockNews.com lowered Ryerson from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Ryerson from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th.

Ryerson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RYI traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.81. 141,817 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 295,014. The company has a market cap of $702.19 million, a PE ratio of -83.88 and a beta of 1.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $22.33 and a 200 day moving average of $22.42. Ryerson Holding Co. has a 52-week low of $17.18 and a 52-week high of $27.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

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

Ryerson Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 18th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 5th will be given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, June 5th. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.44%. Ryerson's dividend payout ratio is currently -340.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

About Ryerson

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.