Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Short Interest Up 24.0% in March

Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 287,400 shares, a growth of 24.0% from the February 28th total of 231,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 95,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Approximately 3.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Olympic Steel Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of Olympic Steel stock opened at $31.52 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Olympic Steel has a twelve month low of $30.29 and a twelve month high of $73.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $351.01 million, a PE ratio of 16.00 and a beta of 1.48. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $33.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $36.40.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The basic materials company reported $0.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.05. Olympic Steel had a return on equity of 3.31% and a net margin of 1.18%. The business had revenue of $418.78 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $441.60 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Olympic Steel will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Olympic Steel Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.16 dividend. This represents a $0.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.03%. This is a boost from Olympic Steel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Olympic Steel’s dividend payout ratio is 32.49%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olympic Steel

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Olympic Steel in the 4th quarter valued at about $361,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in shares of Olympic Steel by 58.0% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 18,248 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 6,698 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Olympic Steel by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $569,000 after buying an additional 6,495 shares in the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC purchased a new stake in Olympic Steel in the 4th quarter valued at $543,000. Finally, State of Wyoming grew its holdings in Olympic Steel by 17.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 8,236 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $270,000 after buying an additional 1,233 shares in the last quarter. 87.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Olympic Steel from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Olympic Steel from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th.

About Olympic Steel

Olympic Steel, Inc processes, distributes, and stores metal products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates in three segments: Carbon Flat Products; Specialty Metals Flat Products; and Tubular and Pipe Products. The company offers stainless steel and aluminum coil and sheet products, angles, rounds, and flat bars; alloy, heat treated, and abrasion resistant coils, sheets and plates; coated metals, including galvanized, galvannealed, electro galvanized, advanced high strength steels, aluminized, and automotive grades of steel; commercial quality, advanced high strength steel, drawing steel, and automotive grades cold rolled steel coil and sheet products; hot rolled carbon comprising hot rolled coil, pickled and oiled sheet and plate steel products, automotive grades, advanced high strength steels, and high strength low alloys; tube, pipe, and bar products, including round, square, and rectangular mechanical and structural tubing; hydraulic and stainless tubing; boiler tubing; carbon, stainless, and aluminum pipes; valves and fittings; and tin mill products, such as electrolytic tinplate, electrolytic chromium coated steel, and black plates.