Short Interest in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Decreases By 25.8%

Key Points

• As of August 31, Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) experienced a 25.8% decrease in short interest, totaling 209,700 shares.
• Analysts have recently provided mixed ratings, with Wall Street Zen downgrading the stock from "buy" to "hold", while maintaining a consensus rating of "buy" with a price target of $38.00.
• Olympic Steel announced a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share, leading to an annualized yield of 1.9%.

Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS - Get Free Report) was the target of a large drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 209,700 shares, a drop of 25.8% from the August 15th total of 282,600 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 68,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Based on an average daily volume of 68,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Olympic Steel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, August 10th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of Olympic Steel from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $38.00.

Olympic Steel Trading Up 1.5%

NASDAQ:ZEUS traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $33.38. The stock had a trading volume of 42,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,492. The business's 50 day moving average is $32.82 and its 200-day moving average is $32.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a current ratio of 3.07. Olympic Steel has a one year low of $26.32 and a one year high of $43.60. The company has a market cap of $373.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.36 and a beta of 1.77.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.59 by ($0.09). Olympic Steel had a return on equity of 1.95% and a net margin of 0.77%.The company had revenue of $496.48 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $506.60 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Olympic Steel will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Olympic Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Olympic Steel's dividend payout ratio is presently 52.46%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State of Wyoming lifted its stake in Olympic Steel by 62.1% in the second quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 16,306 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 6,248 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 11.2% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 25,622 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $835,000 after buying an additional 2,589 shares during the last quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 114,353 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,727,000 after buying an additional 2,748 shares during the last quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 112.4% during the 2nd quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 13,712 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $447,000 after buying an additional 7,255 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 53,223 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,735,000 after buying an additional 6,628 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.07% of the company's stock.

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.