Alliancebernstein L.P. Grows Holdings in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS)

Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS - Free Report) by 33.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 71,560 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,020 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.64% of Olympic Steel worth $2,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Olympic Steel during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Olympic Steel in the third quarter valued at $202,000. Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Olympic Steel during the 4th quarter worth $216,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Olympic Steel by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 7,517 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,103 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 1,820 shares during the period. 87.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ZEUS shares. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Olympic Steel from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com cut Olympic Steel from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 1st.

Olympic Steel Stock Down 3.7 %

Olympic Steel stock traded down $1.13 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $29.46. The company had a trading volume of 17,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 118,432. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 3.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. Olympic Steel, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.32 and a 1 year high of $69.79. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.28 and a 200 day moving average of $35.45. The stock has a market cap of $328.86 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.95 and a beta of 1.50.

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

Olympic Steel Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.16 dividend. This is an increase from Olympic Steel's previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. This represents a $0.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Olympic Steel's payout ratio is presently 32.49%.

Olympic Steel Profile

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.