Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases 35,638 Shares of Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) by 23.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 186,438 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 35,638 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.37% of Worthington Steel worth $5,658,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of WS. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Worthington Steel by 14.8% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 15,771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Worthington Steel by 89.4% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 50,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after buying an additional 23,899 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Worthington Steel by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 841 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of Worthington Steel in the second quarter valued at $670,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in shares of Worthington Steel by 3.9% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 127,877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,815,000 after buying an additional 4,756 shares in the last quarter. 45.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WS shares. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Worthington Steel from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, July 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Insider Activity at Worthington Steel

In related news, insider Clifford Larivey sold 11,105 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.09, for a total transaction of $445,199.45. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 64,308 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,578,107.72. The trade was a 14.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Timothy A. Adams sold 2,367 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.27, for a total transaction of $100,053.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 44,098 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,864,022.46. The trade was a 5.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 33,708 shares of company stock valued at $1,431,830 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Worthington Steel Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE WS opened at $38.21 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.49 and a beta of 2.30. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.04. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a 12 month low of $27.22 and a 12 month high of $49.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.46, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $929.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $992.00 million. Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 0.50%.The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 3.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Worthington Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.04%.

About Worthington Steel

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.