United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) Short Interest Update

United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,210,000 shares, a decline of 49.1% from the January 15th total of 25,940,000 shares. Currently, 5.9% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 7,350,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days.

United States Steel Stock Performance

NYSE:X traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $38.42. 5,491,066 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,718,949. The firm has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $35.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.92. United States Steel has a one year low of $26.92 and a one year high of $48.13.

United States Steel (NYSE:X - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The basic materials company reported ($0.18) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by ($0.38). United States Steel had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 2.46%. Research analysts anticipate that United States Steel will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th will be paid a $0.05 dividend. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 10th. United States Steel's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United States Steel

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 64.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 710 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 9.2% in the third quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 3,328 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $118,000 after buying an additional 279 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 0.7% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 44,450 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,570,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 1.7% in the third quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 18,635 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $658,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors lifted its position in shares of United States Steel by 4.8% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 7,012 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $248,000 after buying an additional 321 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 81.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on X. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on United States Steel from $43.00 to $40.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "equal weight" rating and set a $39.00 price objective on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on United States Steel from $44.00 to $40.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Monday, January 6th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $35.00 price objective for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $39.82.

About United States Steel

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.