Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 598,100 shares, a growth of 29.0% from the August 31st total of 463,700 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 169,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.5 days. Currently, 6.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Olympic Steel

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 0.6% during the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 28,710 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its position in Olympic Steel by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 6,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $435,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Olympic Steel by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 14,472 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Olympic Steel by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter. ClariVest Asset Management LLC now owns 13,921 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $624,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Olympic Steel by 5.0% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 9,903 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. 87.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Olympic Steel Trading Up 1.3 %

ZEUS opened at $39.36 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 1.43 and a current ratio of 3.77. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $41.32 and its 200-day moving average price is $51.28. Olympic Steel has a one year low of $34.81 and a one year high of $73.49. The stock has a market cap of $438.08 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.50 and a beta of 1.48.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.60 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.55 by $0.05. Olympic Steel had a return on equity of 4.98% and a net margin of 1.74%. The company had revenue of $526.25 million for the quarter. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 EPS.

Olympic Steel Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.52%. Olympic Steel’s payout ratio is 16.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Olympic Steel from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 24th.

Olympic Steel Company Profile

Olympic Steel, Inc processes, distributes, and stores metal products primarily in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates in three segments: Carbon Flat Products; Specialty Metals Flat Products; and Tubular and Pipe Products. The company offers stainless steel and aluminum coil and sheet products, angles, rounds, and flat bars; alloy, heat treated, and abrasion resistant coils, sheets and plates; coated metals, including galvanized, galvannealed, electro galvanized, advanced high strength steels, aluminized, and automotive grades of steel; commercial quality, advanced high strength steel, drawing steel, and automotive grades cold rolled steel coil and sheet products; hot rolled carbon comprising hot rolled coil, pickled and oiled sheet and plate steel products, automotive grades, advanced high strength steels, and high strength low alloys; tube, pipe, and bar products, including round, square, and rectangular mechanical and structural tubing; hydraulic and stainless tubing; boiler tubing; carbon, stainless, and aluminum pipes; valves and fittings; and tin mill products, such as electrolytic tinplate, electrolytic chromium coated steel, and black plates.