ArcelorMittal S.A. (NYSE:MT) Short Interest Update

ArcelorMittal S.A. (NYSE:MT) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,460,000 shares, a decline of 21.5% from the February 13th total of 5,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,230,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 0.6% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On ArcelorMittal

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in ArcelorMittal by 89.6% during the 4th quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in ArcelorMittal by 68.5% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,464 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in ArcelorMittal by 76.2% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $113,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of ArcelorMittal by 76.6% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,963 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 2,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of ArcelorMittal during the 4th quarter valued at $207,000. Institutional investors own 9.29% of the company’s stock.

ArcelorMittal Stock Performance

Shares of ArcelorMittal stock traded down $0.19 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $32.04. 1,485,103 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,784,907. ArcelorMittal has a 12 month low of $20.52 and a 12 month high of $34.90. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 1.35. The company has a market capitalization of $26.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.42, a P/E/G ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 1.79.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.09). ArcelorMittal had a return on equity of 4.31% and a net margin of 2.14%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that ArcelorMittal will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

ArcelorMittal Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 3rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 13th will be given a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, November 12th. This represents a dividend yield of 1.5%. This is a boost from ArcelorMittal’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.21. ArcelorMittal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 25.45%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Morgan Stanley downgraded ArcelorMittal from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.17.

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated steel and mining companies in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It offers semi-finished flat products, including slabs; finished flat products comprising plates, hot- and cold-rolled coils and sheets, hot-dipped and electro-galvanized coils and sheets, tinplate, and color coated coils and sheets; semi-finished long products, such as blooms and billets; finished long products consisting of bars, wire-rods, structural sections, rails, sheet piles, and wire-products; and seamless and welded pipes and tubes.