William Blair Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI)

William Blair Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 855,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,075 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ryerson were worth $15,831,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ryerson by 31.6% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 847,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,874,000 after purchasing an additional 203,314 shares during the last quarter. JB Capital Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Ryerson by 4.0% during the third quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 2,131,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $42,430,000 after buying an additional 82,313 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ryerson by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,215,679 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,502,000 after buying an additional 65,181 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 3.2% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,411,397 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $28,101,000 after buying an additional 43,780 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Ryerson by 167.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 55,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 34,604 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 94.81% of the company’s stock.

Ryerson Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:RYI opened at $24.71 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market cap of $786.97 million, a PE ratio of -95.03 and a beta of 1.53. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.79. Ryerson Holding Co. has a one year low of $17.18 and a one year high of $34.65.

Ryerson (NYSE:RYI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.48) by $0.34. Ryerson had a negative return on equity of 0.70% and a negative net margin of 0.19%. The company had revenue of $1.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ryerson Holding Co. will post 1.2 EPS for the current year.

Ryerson Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 6th will be paid a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 6th. Ryerson’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -288.46%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO James J. Claussen sold 6,017 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.30, for a total value of $152,230.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 58,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,486,956.90. The trade was a 9.29 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward J. Lehner sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.79, for a total value of $247,900.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 593,228 shares in the company, valued at $14,706,122.12. This trade represents a 1.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 3.95% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Ryerson

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.