United States Steel Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:X)

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 111,124 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 67% compared to the typical volume of 66,520 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

X has been the topic of several recent research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded United States Steel from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of United States Steel from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Glj Research upgraded shares of United States Steel from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $38.57 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, United States Steel has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $42.37.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United States Steel

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of X. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 646.0% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 506,694 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $17,902,000 after purchasing an additional 438,771 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of United States Steel by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,839,684 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $135,691,000 after buying an additional 37,528 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in United States Steel by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,600,708 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $91,883,000 after buying an additional 28,293 shares during the last quarter. Water Island Capital LLC raised its holdings in United States Steel by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Water Island Capital LLC now owns 906,092 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,250,000 after acquiring an additional 45,567 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. acquired a new stake in United States Steel during the third quarter worth approximately $608,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.92% of the company's stock.

United States Steel Stock Up 9.5 %

United States Steel stock traded up $2.96 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.99. The stock had a trading volume of 13,475,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,659,976. United States Steel has a 1-year low of $26.92 and a 1-year high of $48.85. 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 firm's fifty day simple moving average is $37.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.36 and a beta of 1.83.

United States Steel (NYSE:X - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The firm 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.36 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that United States Steel will post 2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. United States Steel's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.