Verus Capital Partners LLC Has $2.46 Million Stock Position in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)

Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) by 149.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 43,350 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in United States Steel were worth $2,457,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in X. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in United States Steel by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,598,831 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $162,477,000 after acquiring an additional 964,467 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of United States Steel by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,839,684 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $135,691,000 after purchasing an additional 37,528 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 1.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,600,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $91,883,000 after purchasing an additional 28,293 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of United States Steel during the third quarter worth about $91,712,000. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of United States Steel during the third quarter worth about $51,620,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.92% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on X shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on United States Steel from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $39.00 target price on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of United States Steel from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of United States Steel in a research note on Monday, January 6th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $39.82.

United States Steel Stock Performance

Shares of X opened at $39.04 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 1.55 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $35.79 and a 200-day moving average of $36.82. The company has a market cap of $8.79 billion, a PE ratio of 26.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.86. United States Steel Co. has a one year low of $26.92 and a one year high of $48.13.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.38). United States Steel had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 2.46%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that United States Steel Co. will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.42%.

About United States Steel

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.