Wall Street Zen Upgrades Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) to "Buy"

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday morning.

Separately, KeyCorp cut their target price on Worthington Steel from $41.00 to $34.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 7th.

Worthington Steel Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE:WS traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $31.75. 265,059 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 258,039. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.56 and a beta of 1.87. The firm's fifty day moving average is $26.99 and its 200-day moving average is $27.41. Worthington Steel has a 12-month low of $21.30 and a 12-month high of $47.19.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, June 25th. The company reported $1.05 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.22. The firm had revenue of $832.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $800.45 million. Worthington Steel had a net margin of 3.58% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The business's revenue was down 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.06 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Worthington Steel will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Worthington Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 12th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 12th. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.02%. Worthington Steel's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 29.36%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Worthington Steel by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 69,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,225,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 8,848 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 2.0% in the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 30,812 shares of the company's stock valued at $780,000 after purchasing an additional 618 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in Worthington Steel by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 18,505 shares of the company's stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in Worthington Steel by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 12,133 shares of the company's stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 729 shares during the period. 45.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Worthington Steel

Worthington Steel, Inc operates as a steel processor in North America. It offers carbon flat-rolled steel and tailor welded blanks, as well as electrical steel laminations; and aluminum tailor welded blanks. The company serves various end-markets, including automotive, heavy truck, agriculture, construction, and energy.