Van ECK Associates Corp Sells 29,492 Shares of United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)

Van ECK Associates Corp trimmed its position in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) by 15.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 157,066 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 29,492 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in United States Steel were worth $7,641,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. raised its position in United States Steel by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 4,513,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $219,583,000 after purchasing an additional 447,186 shares during the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its position in United States Steel by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 29,928 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,456,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in United States Steel by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 279,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,590,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC raised its position in United States Steel by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 112,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,449,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in United States Steel during the 4th quarter worth $1,007,000. 81.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on United States Steel from $55.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley lowered United States Steel from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $51.00 in a research report on Thursday, February 15th. Wolfe Research raised United States Steel from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on United States Steel from $47.00 to $43.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $36.89.

United States Steel Stock Performance

Shares of X opened at $36.47 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.48 and a 200-day moving average of $41.46. The company has a market cap of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of 10.70 and a beta of 2.06. United States Steel Co. has a one year low of $20.40 and a one year high of $50.20.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $4.14 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.73 billion. United States Steel had a return on equity of 10.68% and a net margin of 4.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.87 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that United States Steel Co. will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 13th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 10th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

United States Steel Profile

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates through North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular) segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke.