Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

by · The Markets Daily

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS – Get Free Report) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued reports about the company. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wall Street Zen cut Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, July 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on WS

Worthington Steel Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE WS opened at $35.59 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60 and a beta of 2.34. Worthington Steel has a 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $49.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.19 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.02.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. Worthington Steel had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The business had revenue of $929.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $992.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Worthington Steel will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Clifford Larivey sold 11,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total transaction of $445,199.45. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 64,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,578,107.72. The trade was a 14.73% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Jeffrey R. Klingler sold 20,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.82, for a total value of $877,977.52. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 93,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,084,549.84. The trade was a 17.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 33,708 shares of company stock valued at $1,431,830. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in Worthington Steel by 13.6% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 240,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,312,000 after acquiring an additional 28,780 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 85,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 16.0% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 14,159 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 1,948 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 50.2% in the 1st quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP now owns 36,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,102,000 after purchasing an additional 12,126 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Windsor Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 32.9% in the 1st quarter. Windsor Advisory Group LLC now owns 275,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,373,000 after purchasing an additional 68,330 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

About Worthington Steel

(Get Free Report)

Worthington Steel (NYSE: WS) is a leading North American steel processor specializing in the production of flat-rolled, coated and painted sheet and coil products. Operating as a wholly owned subsidiary of Worthington Industries, the company serves a broad range of industries, including construction, automotive, appliance, energy and agricultural equipment. Its core business activities encompass the processing, finishing and distribution of carbon and advanced high-strength steels, aluminum and stainless products to manufacturers across the continent.

The company’s product portfolio includes hot-dip galvanizing, galvannealed, aluminized and pre-painted steel products, as well as cold-rolled and hot-rolled coil.

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