Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Sees Significant Drop in Short Interest

Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 284,700 shares, a drop of 24.9% from the January 31st total of 379,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 89,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ZEUS. StockNews.com lowered Olympic Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Olympic Steel from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olympic Steel

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ZEUS. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Olympic Steel during the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in shares of Olympic Steel in the 3rd quarter worth about $184,000. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Olympic Steel during the 3rd quarter valued at about $202,000. Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new stake in Olympic Steel during the fourth quarter worth about $216,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Olympic Steel by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 7,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.07% of the company’s stock.

Olympic Steel Trading Down 4.1 %

NASDAQ:ZEUS opened at $31.25 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $34.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.39. The stock has a market cap of $348 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.86 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Olympic Steel has a 12 month low of $30.29 and a 12 month high of $73.27.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.05. Olympic Steel had a net margin of 1.18% and a return on equity of 3.31%. The business had revenue of $418.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $441.60 million. Equities analysts predict that Olympic Steel will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

Olympic Steel Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This is a positive change from Olympic Steel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.05%. Olympic Steel’s payout ratio is currently 32.49%.

Olympic Steel Company Profile

Olympic Steel, Inc processes, distributes, and stores metal products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates in three segments: Carbon Flat Products; Specialty Metals Flat Products; and Tubular and Pipe Products. The company offers stainless steel and aluminum coil and sheet products, angles, rounds, and flat bars; alloy, heat treated, and abrasion resistant coils, sheets and plates; coated metals, including galvanized, galvannealed, electro galvanized, advanced high strength steels, aluminized, and automotive grades of steel; commercial quality, advanced high strength steel, drawing steel, and automotive grades cold rolled steel coil and sheet products; hot rolled carbon comprising hot rolled coil, pickled and oiled sheet and plate steel products, automotive grades, advanced high strength steels, and high strength low alloys; tube, pipe, and bar products, including round, square, and rectangular mechanical and structural tubing; hydraulic and stainless tubing; boiler tubing; carbon, stainless, and aluminum pipes; valves and fittings; and tin mill products, such as electrolytic tinplate, electrolytic chromium coated steel, and black plates.