Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Stock Price Up 5.4% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Worthington Steel shares rose 5.4% to $36.57, although trading volume was 54% below the average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment is cautious: the stock has a consensus “Hold” rating from three analysts, with a target price of $46.00 following several recent downgrades.
• The company slightly exceeded quarterly EPS expectations at $0.74 versus $0.73, while revenue reached $929.2 million, below estimates but up 11.6% year over year.

Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS - Get Free Report)'s stock price was up 5.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $36.60 and last traded at $36.57. 132,148 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 54% from the average session volume of 286,577 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WS. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Worthington Steel from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Worthington Steel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Worthington Steel from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, September 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.53 and a 200 day moving average of $36.16. The company has a quick ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.88 and a beta of 2.27.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 0.50%.The firm had revenue of $929.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $992.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The company's revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Worthington Steel

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 1,239.3% during the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 750 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 56.4% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 910 shares of the company's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in Worthington Steel during the 2nd quarter valued at $51,000. OP Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in Worthington Steel during the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Security National Bank of SO Dak purchased a new position in shares of Worthington Steel in the second quarter valued at about $111,000. Institutional investors own 45.41% of the company's stock.

About Worthington Steel

Worthington Steel, Inc is a steel processing company that produces value-added flat-rolled steel products for manufacturers and industrial customers. Its operations include steel slitting, cold rolling, coating, electrical steel processing and other specialized treatments designed to meet customers' product and performance requirements.

The company supplies products and services to a range of end markets, including automotive, electrical infrastructure, construction, energy, industrial equipment and consumer products.

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