Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Short Interest Down 25.8% in August

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 significant decrease in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totaling 209,700 shares, a decrease of 25.8% from the August 15th total of 282,600 shares. Approximately 2.1% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 68,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 68,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company's stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Olympic Steel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 10th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Olympic Steel from $40.00 to $38.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $38.00.

Olympic Steel Stock Performance

NASDAQ ZEUS traded down $1.09 on Friday, reaching $32.29. The stock had a trading volume of 182,317 shares, compared to its average volume of 54,948. 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 12-month low of $26.32 and a 12-month high of $43.60. The business's 50-day moving average price is $32.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $32.03. The stock has a market cap of $361.58 million, a P/E ratio of 26.47 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 for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.59 by ($0.09). Olympic Steel had a net margin of 0.77% and a return on equity of 1.95%. The firm had revenue of $496.48 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $506.60 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Olympic Steel will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Olympic Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 2nd were given a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 2nd. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Olympic Steel's dividend payout ratio is currently 52.46%.

Institutional Trading of Olympic Steel

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Olympic Steel by 18,931.2% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 17,699 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $558,000 after acquiring an additional 17,606 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Olympic Steel by 3,455.5% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 13,333 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $423,000 after buying an additional 12,958 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Olympic Steel by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 349,157 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $11,005,000 after purchasing an additional 19,044 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 32.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 78,577 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,477,000 after acquiring an additional 19,039 shares during the period. Finally, New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Olympic Steel by 33.6% during the first quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 2,406 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. 87.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.