Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) Downgraded by Natl Bk Canada to “Hold”

Natl Bk Canada lowered shares of Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Friday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. National Bank Financial cut shares of Russel Metals from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from C$54.00 to C$56.00 in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$51.00 to C$55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. TD Securities raised their price target on shares of Russel Metals from C$50.00 to C$57.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Russel Metals from C$52.00 to C$54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Russel Metals from C$49.00 to C$50.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$54.42.

Russel Metals Stock Up 0.4%

TSE:RUS opened at C$47.12 on Friday. Russel Metals has a 52 week low of C$34.62 and a 52 week high of C$53.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is C$46.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is C$42.98. The stock has a market capitalization of C$2.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 3.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 20.28.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported C$0.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Russel Metals had a return on equity of 11.03% and a net margin of 4.27%.The firm had revenue of C$1.17 billion for the quarter.

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 27th. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 58.22%.

More Russel Metals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Russel Metals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: TD Securities raised its price target to C$57.00 and maintained a “buy” rating (?21.6% upside vs. the cited reference price). This is one of the largest target increases and is a clear bullish catalyst. TD Securities raises target
• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada raised its target to C$55.00 and kept an “outperform” rating (?17.3% upside), reinforcing buy-side interest. RBC raises target
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank increased its target to C$54.00 and kept an “outperform” rating (?15.2% upside), adding another institutional vote of confidence. Scotiabank raises target TickerReport item
• Neutral Sentiment: Stifel Nicolaus nudged its target to C$50.50 and kept a “hold” rating (?7.7% upside). The smaller increase and neutral stance are less market-moving than the buy/outperform calls. Stifel updates target
• Negative Sentiment: National Bank Financial downgraded Russel Metals from “outperform” to “sector perform” despite raising its target to C$56.00. The downgrade introduces a cautionary note on forward relative performance even though the new target is higher. National Bank downgrades

About Russel Metals

Russel Metals is one of the largest metals distribution companies in North America with a growing focus on value-added processing. It carries on business in three segments: metals service centers, energy field stores and steel distributors. Its network of metals service centers carries an extensive line of metal products in a wide range of sizes, shapes and specifications, including carbon hot rolled and cold finished steel, pipe and tubular products, stainless steel, aluminum and other non-ferrous specialty metals.