Verus Capital Partners LLC Boosts Position in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)

Verus Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X - Free Report) by 88.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,940 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 13,594 shares during the period. Verus Capital Partners LLC's holdings in United States Steel were worth $1,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of X. Rothschild Investment LLC acquired a new position in shares of United States Steel during the second quarter worth $26,000. Palouse Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of United States Steel in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in United States Steel by 339.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in United States Steel in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of United States Steel during the first quarter worth approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 81.92% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on X. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of United States Steel from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of United States Steel from $47.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Glj Research upgraded shares of United States Steel from a "sell" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $38.57 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Monday, August 19th. They issued a "hold" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $42.80.

United States Steel Stock Performance

X stock traded down $0.22 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $40.03. 4,699,330 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,385,618. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $36.83 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.78. 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 has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a PE ratio of 26.49 and a beta of 1.86. United States Steel Co. has a 52 week low of $26.92 and a 52 week high of $50.20.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.77 billion. United States Steel had a net margin of 2.41% and a return on equity of 6.01%. The business's revenue was down 13.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.36 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that United States Steel Co. will post 2.17 EPS for the current year.

United States Steel Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, December 11th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.50%. United States Steel's dividend payout ratio is currently 13.16%.

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.