Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at Zacks Research

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

Several other research analysts have also commented on WS. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Stock Performance

Shares of WS stock opened at $35.59 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.02. Worthington Steel has a 52 week low of $27.22 and a 52 week high of $49.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The company has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a PE ratio of 25.60 and a beta of 2.34.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. Worthington Steel had a net margin of 0.50% and a return on equity of 8.85%. The firm had revenue of $929.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $992.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Worthington Steel will post 3.39 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Jeffrey R. Klingler sold 20,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.82, for a total transaction of $877,977.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 93,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,084,549.84. This trade represents a 17.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Timothy A. Adams sold 2,367 shares of Worthington Steel stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.27, for a total transaction of $100,053.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,864,022.46. This trade represents a 5.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 33,708 shares of company stock worth $1,431,830 in the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Worthington Steel

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Worthington Steel by 695.6% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 969,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,475,000 after purchasing an additional 847,981 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management boosted its holdings in Worthington Steel by 563.7% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 365,672 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,660,000 after purchasing an additional 310,572 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Worthington Steel by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,287,641 shares of the company’s stock valued at $148,438,000 after purchasing an additional 217,090 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH bought a new stake in Worthington Steel during the fourth quarter valued at $7,163,000. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 154.3% during the second quarter. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC now owns 340,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,165,000 after purchasing an additional 206,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

About Worthington Steel

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.