Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on United States Steel (NYSE:X)

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Investors acquired 111,124 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 67% compared to the typical volume of 66,520 call options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of United States Steel by 4,305.6% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 3,634,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $137,379,000 after purchasing an additional 3,551,870 shares in the last quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of United States Steel in the third quarter worth about $91,712,000. KGH Ltd boosted its stake in United States Steel by 68.2% during the second quarter. KGH Ltd now owns 4,255,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $160,839,000 after buying an additional 1,724,670 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new position in United States Steel during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,620,000. Finally, Forest Avenue Capital Management LP bought a new stake in United States Steel in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,770,000. 81.92% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Monday, September 9th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 20th. BNP Paribas raised shares of United States Steel from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 6th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Glj Research upgraded United States Steel from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $38.57 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, United States Steel presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $42.37.

United States Steel Stock Performance

Shares of United States Steel stock traded up $2.96 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $33.99. 13,475,839 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,659,976. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 1.83. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.46. United States Steel has a one year low of $26.92 and a one year high of $48.85.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. United States Steel had a return on equity of 6.01% and a net margin of 2.41%. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that United States Steel will post 2.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were given a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. United States Steel’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

United States Steel Company Profile

United States Steel Corporation produces and sells flat-rolled and tubular steel products primarily in North America and Europe. The company operates through North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular) segments. The Flat-Rolled segment offers slabs, strip mill plates, sheets, and tin mill products, as well as iron ore and coke.