Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

WS has been the subject of several other research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Worthington Steel from $36.00 to $39.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Worthington Steel has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.00.

Worthington Steel Price Performance

Worthington Steel stock opened at $36.53 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97 and a beta of 1.72. Worthington Steel has a 1 year low of $21.30 and a 1 year high of $38.59. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $31.64.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, December 17th. The company reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $871.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $797.25 million. Worthington Steel had a net margin of 3.83% and a return on equity of 10.70%. The business’s revenue was up 18.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Worthington Steel will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Worthington Steel

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Worthington Steel by 33.0% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 208,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,277,000 after buying an additional 51,700 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Worthington Steel by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 30,812 shares of the company’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 618 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Worthington Steel by 966.1% in the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 269,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,818,000 after acquiring an additional 243,912 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Worthington Steel by 6.3% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 74,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,883,000 after acquiring an additional 4,419 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new position in shares of Worthington Steel during the first quarter worth about $118,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 45.41% of the company’s stock.

Worthington Steel Company Profile

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.