Insider Buying: Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Director Purchases 2,500 Shares of Stock

Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) Director Jon Bowsher purchased 2,500 shares of Worthington Steel stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $40.15 per share, with a total value of $100,375.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 17,893 shares in the company, valued at approximately $718,403.95. The trade was a 16.24% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Worthington Steel Price Performance

Worthington Steel stock traded up $2.13 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $44.37. The company had a trading volume of 264,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 277,620. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.09. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a 12-month low of $21.30 and a 12-month high of $44.46. The company has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.93 and a beta of 1.69. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.41.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, December 19th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $871.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.25 million. Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 10.70% and a net margin of 3.83%.Worthington Steel’s quarterly revenue was up 18.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 2.26 EPS for the current year.

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 27th. Investors of record on Friday, March 13th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 13th. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.96%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MAI Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 1,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in Worthington Steel by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 28,143 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,000 after purchasing an additional 406 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Worthington Steel by 57.1% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management raised its position in Worthington Steel by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 20,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $703,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Worthington Steel by 37.2% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,000 after purchasing an additional 520 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Worthington Steel from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Worthington Steel presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.00.

Worthington Steel Company Profile

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.