ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) Cut to “Hold” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $36.20 price objective on the basic materials company’s stock.

Separately, Morgan Stanley cut shares of ArcelorMittal from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.43.

ArcelorMittal Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of MT stock opened at $28.81 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.35. ArcelorMittal has a 52-week low of $20.52 and a 52-week high of $34.90. The company has a market capitalization of $23.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.46, a PEG ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 1.79.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.09). ArcelorMittal had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 4.31%. Research analysts anticipate that ArcelorMittal will post 3.72 EPS for the current fiscal year.

ArcelorMittal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be paid a $0.275 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.5%. ArcelorMittal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 27.88%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in MT. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in ArcelorMittal by 221.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,403,048 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,344,020 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of ArcelorMittal by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,029,028 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,061,000 after purchasing an additional 91,363 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in shares of ArcelorMittal by 146.7% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,535,319 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,512,000 after acquiring an additional 912,984 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of ArcelorMittal by 46.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,317,833 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,606,000 after buying an additional 419,465 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of ArcelorMittal by 31.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,153,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,690,000 after purchasing an additional 277,891 shares in the last quarter. 9.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ArcelorMittal Company Profile

ArcelorMittal SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated steel and mining companies in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It offers semi-finished flat products, including slabs; finished flat products comprising plates, hot- and cold-rolled coils and sheets, hot-dipped and electro-galvanized coils and sheets, tinplate, and color coated coils and sheets; semi-finished long products, such as blooms and billets; finished long products consisting of bars, wire-rods, structural sections, rails, sheet piles, and wire-products; and seamless and welded pipes and tubes.