Empirical Asset Management LLC Acquires Shares of 15,437 United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)

Empirical Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 15,437 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $525,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of X. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in shares of United States Steel by 16.0% during the 2nd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 24,303 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $919,000 after acquiring an additional 3,361 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. raised its position in shares of United States Steel by 19.5% in the second quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 7,625 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 1,245 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of United States Steel by 12.1% during the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,936 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $527,000 after buying an additional 1,502 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its holdings in United States Steel by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 26,880 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,016,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its stake in United States Steel by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 204,221 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $7,666,000 after buying an additional 50,836 shares in the last quarter. 81.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on X. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of United States Steel from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America began coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on United States Steel from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $41.07.

United States Steel Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:X traded up $0.25 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $36.05. 3,415,790 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,242,722. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.72 and a beta of 1.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a current ratio of 1.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.61 and a 200 day moving average of $37.16. United States Steel Co. has a 12 month low of $26.92 and a 12 month high of $48.85.

United States Steel (NYSE:X - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 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 business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.36 EPS. United States Steel's quarterly revenue was down 13.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that United States Steel Co. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th were issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. United States Steel's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.16%.

United States Steel 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.