Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 513,500 shares, a drop of 20.1% from the December 15th total of 642,700 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 245,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ryerson

In other Ryerson news, EVP Mark S. Silver sold 9,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.56, for a total value of $221,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 107,664 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,644,227.84. This trade represents a 7.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 3.88% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of RYI. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Ryerson by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 47,407 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $924,000 after acquiring an additional 4,521 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ryerson by 14.2% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 783,631 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $15,281,000 after purchasing an additional 97,556 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in shares of Ryerson by 3.5% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 75,339 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 2,529 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Ryerson by 34.1% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 278,600 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $5,433,000 after buying an additional 70,901 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ryerson by 34.3% during the second quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 213,807 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,169,000 after buying an additional 54,621 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.81% of the company's stock.

Ryerson Trading Up 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE:RYI traded up $0.54 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $20.56. 144,280 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 257,831. Ryerson has a 1-year low of $17.18 and a 1-year high of $36.15. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.11. The company has a current ratio of 2.22, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market cap of $654.77 million, a P/E ratio of 33.70 and a beta of 1.59.

Ryerson (NYSE:RYI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.26). Ryerson had a return on equity of 2.66% and a net margin of 0.46%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.00 EPS.

Ryerson Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were given a dividend of $0.1875 per share. This represents a $0.75 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 5th. Ryerson's dividend payout ratio is 122.95%.

Ryerson Company Profile

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.