Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Acquires 2,559 Shares of Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) by 6.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 41,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,559 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.38% of Olympic Steel worth $1,375,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ZEUS. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Olympic Steel by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 233,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,667,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Olympic Steel by 33.7% in the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 71,560 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 18,020 shares during the last quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Olympic Steel during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Olympic Steel during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,035,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Olympic Steel by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 99,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,262,000 after purchasing an additional 21,403 shares during the period. 87.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Olympic Steel Stock Down 3.1 %

Olympic Steel stock opened at $28.11 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $33.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.97. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Olympic Steel, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.32 and a 1-year high of $72.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $313.79 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.27 and a beta of 1.50.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $418.78 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $441.60 million. Olympic Steel had a return on equity of 3.31% and a net margin of 1.18%. On average, analysts predict that Olympic Steel, Inc. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Olympic Steel Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.28%. This is an increase from Olympic Steel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. Olympic Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 32.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ZEUS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on Olympic Steel from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com cut Olympic Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st.

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.