Short Interest in Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI) Rises By 26.8%

Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,080,000 shares, a growth of 26.8% from the January 31st total of 851,400 shares. Approximately 4.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 248,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Ryerson Stock Down 0.5 %

Ryerson stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $24.37. The stock had a trading volume of 252,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 270,478. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $21.49 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.52. Ryerson has a 12-month low of $17.18 and a 12-month high of $34.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $776.05 million, a P/E ratio of -93.71 and a beta of 1.59.

Ryerson (NYSE:RYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.34. The business had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1 billion. Ryerson had a negative return on equity of 0.70% and a negative net margin of 0.19%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ryerson will post 1.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ryerson Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.08%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Ryerson’s payout ratio is presently -288.46%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO James J. Claussen sold 6,017 shares of Ryerson stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.30, for a total transaction of $152,230.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 58,773 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,486,956.90. This trade represents a 9.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 3.88% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ryerson

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in RYI. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its position in Ryerson by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 52,557 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $973,000 after purchasing an additional 9,040 shares during the period. Towle & Co. boosted its position in Ryerson by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Towle & Co. now owns 554,868 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,271,000 after purchasing an additional 17,925 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ryerson by 48.3% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 57,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,066,000 after purchasing an additional 18,748 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ryerson by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 704,448 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,039,000 after purchasing an additional 49,905 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 542,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,040,000 after buying an additional 62,092 shares during the last quarter. 94.81% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ryerson from $23.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th.

Ryerson Company Profile

Ryerson Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, processes and distributes industrial metals in the United States and internationally. It offers a line of products in carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steels, and aluminum, as well as nickel and red metals in various shapes and forms, including coils, sheets, rounds, hexagons, square and flat bars, plates, structural, and tubing.