ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

Shares of ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) gapped up before the market opened on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $47.76, but opened at $50.64. ArcelorMittal shares last traded at $51.6810, with a volume of 666,089 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MT. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of ArcelorMittal in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of ArcelorMittal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $51.10 to $73.20 in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of ArcelorMittal in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of ArcelorMittal in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Santander raised shares of ArcelorMittal from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.98.

ArcelorMittal Stock Up 9.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $57.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.24. The company has a market cap of $40.39 billion, a PE ratio of 12.72, a P/E/G ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 1.48.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The basic materials company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.30. The business had revenue of $14.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.56 billion. ArcelorMittal had a return on equity of 5.27% and a net margin of 5.14%.The business’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that ArcelorMittal will post 3.72 EPS for the current year.

ArcelorMittal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 13th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 13th. ArcelorMittal’s payout ratio is presently 12.44%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ArcelorMittal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of ArcelorMittal in the third quarter valued at about $41,399,000. UBS Group AG raised its position in shares of ArcelorMittal by 405.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 1,181,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,706,000 after purchasing an additional 947,532 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama acquired a new position in shares of ArcelorMittal during the 4th quarter worth about $30,721,000. Senator Investment Group LP purchased a new position in ArcelorMittal in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,431,000. Finally, Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in ArcelorMittal by 4,457.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 367,568 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after buying an additional 359,502 shares in the last quarter. 9.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

ArcelorMittal Company Profile

ArcelorMittal is a multinational steel manufacturing company formed in 2006 through the merger of Arcelor and Mittal Steel. Headquartered in Luxembourg, the company is one of the world’s largest producers of steel and operates an integrated value chain that spans raw material extraction, steelmaking, processing and distribution. Its product portfolio includes flat and long carbon steel products, coated and specialty steels, tubular products and value-added solutions tailored for sectors such as automotive, construction, household appliances, energy and packaging.

ArcelorMittal’s operations are global in scope, with production facilities, distribution networks and commercial activities across Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Commonwealth of Independent States.