Jennison Associates LLC Boosts Stock Position in Worthington Steel, Inc. $WS

Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) by 70.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 41,277 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,082 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Worthington Steel were worth $1,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WS. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in Worthington Steel by 14.8% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 15,771 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 2,038 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Worthington Steel by 89.4% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 50,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after acquiring an additional 23,899 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Worthington Steel by 4.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 19,346 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Worthington Steel in the second quarter worth approximately $670,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP grew its position in Worthington Steel by 3.9% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 127,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,815,000 after acquiring an additional 4,756 shares during the period. 45.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on WS. Wall Street Zen lowered Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. KeyCorp began coverage on Worthington Steel in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research lowered Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research report on Monday, April 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Worthington Steel currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Trading Down 0.1%

WS opened at $39.13 on Monday. Worthington Steel, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.23 and a 52 week high of $49.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.96. The firm has a market cap of $1.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02 and a beta of 2.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The company reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.20). Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 10.12% and a net margin of 3.64%.The firm had revenue of $769.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $882.95 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 12.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 12th will be given a dividend of $0.16 per share. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 12th. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.65%.

Worthington Steel 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.