United States Steel Corporation Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (X)

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 51,977 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 194% compared to the average daily volume of 17,668 put options.

In other news, Director Stephen J. Girsky purchased 2,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 16th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.94 per share, for a total transaction of $49,850.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 21,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $436,127.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Paul Anthony Mascarenas purchased 1,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.31 per share, with a total value of $28,965.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 12,377 shares in the company, valued at $238,999.87. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 14,000 shares of company stock valued at $278,415. Corporate insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in United States Steel Corporation by 1,971.9% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 3,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 3,155 shares during the period. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in United States Steel Corporation during the first quarter valued at $209,000. Acrospire Investment Management LLC increased its position in United States Steel Corporation by 241.1% in the first quarter. Acrospire Investment Management LLC now owns 6,212 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $210,000 after buying an additional 4,391 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in United States Steel Corporation by 21.4% in the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 6,301 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 1,112 shares during the period. Finally, FNY Partners Fund LP increased its position in United States Steel Corporation by 272.2% in the first quarter. FNY Partners Fund LP now owns 6,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 4,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 67.18% of the company’s stock.

X has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Longbow Research cut United States Steel Corporation from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Argus lifted their price objective on United States Steel Corporation to $1.48 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Macquarie raised United States Steel Corporation from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $23.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Monday, April 24th. Cowen and Company cut United States Steel Corporation from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $60.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 10th. Finally, J P Morgan Chase & Co reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of United States Steel Corporation in a research report on Wednesday, June 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.31.

Shares of United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) opened at 22.98 on Monday. United States Steel Corporation has a one year low of $15.72 and a one year high of $41.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.02 billion, a PE ratio of 145.44 and a beta of 2.88.

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The basic materials company reported $1.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.66. The business had revenue of $3.14 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.98 billion. United States Steel Corporation had a return on equity of 6.50% and a net margin of 0.24%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 21.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.32) earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that United States Steel Corporation will post $1.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 8th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 9th will be given a $0.05 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 7th. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. United States Steel Corporation’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 125.00%.

About United States Steel Corporation

United States Steel Corporation is an integrated steel producer. The Company is engaged in producing flat-rolled and tubular products with production operations in North America and Europe. The Company operates through three segments: Flat-Rolled Products (Flat-Rolled), U. S. Steel Europe (USSE) and Tubular Products (Tubular).