Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Makes New Investment in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in shares of United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X - Free Report) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 17,204 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $608,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of X. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of United States Steel in the second quarter worth about $26,000. Palouse Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in United States Steel in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in United States Steel by 339.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of United States Steel during the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of United States Steel by 9.2% during the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 3,328 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of United States Steel from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of United States Steel from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of United States Steel in a report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on United States Steel from $45.00 to $43.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.80.

United States Steel Stock Performance

United States Steel stock traded up $2.34 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $40.73. The stock had a trading volume of 7,200,986 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,480,372. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. United States Steel Co. has a 52-week low of $26.92 and a 52-week high of $50.20. The company has a market capitalization of $9.17 billion, a PE ratio of 27.49 and a beta of 1.86. The firm's fifty day moving average is $37.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.83.

United States Steel (NYSE:X - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.77 billion. United States Steel had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 6.01%. United States Steel's revenue for the quarter was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.36 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that United States Steel Co. will post 2.21 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be issued a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. United States Steel's dividend payout ratio is 13.16%.

United States Steel Company 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.