Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Shares Gap Down – Here’s What Happened

Worthington Steel, Inc. (NYSE:WS) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $34.93, but opened at $33.71. Worthington Steel shares last traded at $33.5050, with a volume of 3,287 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on WS. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Worthington Steel from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Worthington Steel in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut shares of Worthington Steel from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Worthington Steel Stock Up 1.1%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.29 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 1.46 and a quick ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.12 and a 200-day moving average of $37.72.

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, June 25th. The company reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.73 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $929.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $992.00 million. Worthington Steel had a return on equity of 8.87% and a net margin of 0.50%.Worthington Steel’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Worthington Steel, Inc. will post 3.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Worthington Steel Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 29th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be paid a $0.16 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.9%. Worthington Steel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.04%.

Insider Transactions at Worthington Steel

In other news, COO Jeffrey R. Klingler sold 20,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.82, for a total transaction of $877,977.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 93,212 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,084,549.84. This trade represents a 17.69% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Timothy A. Adams sold 2,367 shares of Worthington Steel stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.27, for a total transaction of $100,053.09. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 44,098 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,864,022.46. This trade represents a 5.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 22,603 shares of company stock valued at $986,631 over the last ninety days. 2.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Worthington Steel

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Worthington Steel by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,287,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,438,000 after buying an additional 217,090 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Worthington Steel by 2.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,520,318 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,485,000 after acquiring an additional 68,775 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its position in Worthington Steel by 3,882.4% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 1,265,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,481,000 after acquiring an additional 1,233,293 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its stake in Worthington Steel by 695.6% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 969,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,475,000 after acquiring an additional 847,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Worthington Steel by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 811,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,106,000 after acquiring an additional 102,188 shares in the last quarter. 45.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Worthington Steel

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.