ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

ArcelorMittal S.A. (NYSE:MT) gapped down prior to trading on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $32.06, but opened at $31.07. ArcelorMittal shares last traded at $30.69, with a volume of 854,237 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MT shares. Bank of America upgraded ArcelorMittal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $30.00 to $32.90 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered ArcelorMittal from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, ArcelorMittal currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.17.

ArcelorMittal Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.30 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.01. The stock has a market cap of $25.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 1.79.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.09). ArcelorMittal had a net margin of 2.14% and a return on equity of 4.31%. Analysts forecast that ArcelorMittal S.A. will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On ArcelorMittal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in MT. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in ArcelorMittal by 221.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 3,403,048 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $78,712,000 after acquiring an additional 2,344,020 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in ArcelorMittal by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,029,028 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,061,000 after purchasing an additional 91,363 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in ArcelorMittal by 146.7% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,535,319 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,512,000 after purchasing an additional 912,984 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in ArcelorMittal by 46.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,317,833 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,606,000 after buying an additional 419,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of ArcelorMittal by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,153,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,690,000 after buying an additional 277,891 shares in the last quarter. 9.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

ArcelorMittal Company Profile

ArcelorMittal SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated steel and mining companies in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It offers semi-finished flat products, including slabs; finished flat products comprising plates, hot- and cold-rolled coils and sheets, hot-dipped and electro-galvanized coils and sheets, tinplate, and color coated coils and sheets; semi-finished long products, such as blooms and billets; finished long products consisting of bars, wire-rods, structural sections, rails, sheet piles, and wire-products; and seamless and welded pipes and tubes.