Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Increases Stock Position in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its stake in Olympic Steel, Inc. (NASDAQ:ZEUS) by 13.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,018 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC owned about 0.07% of Olympic Steel worth $555,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System bought a new stake in shares of Olympic Steel in the 3rd quarter worth about $203,000. Corton Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Olympic Steel in the 3rd quarter worth about $203,000. Diversified Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Olympic Steel in the 4th quarter worth about $230,000. Versor Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Olympic Steel in the 3rd quarter worth about $247,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Olympic Steel by 92.8% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 5,112 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Olympic Steel from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, March 2nd.

Olympic Steel Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:ZEUS opened at $66.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $742.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32 and a beta of 1.64. Olympic Steel, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.85 and a 12 month high of $73.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $68.19 and its 200 day moving average is $62.33. The company has a current ratio of 3.35, a quick ratio of 1.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34.

Olympic Steel (NASDAQ:ZEUS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The basic materials company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $489.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $490.10 million. Olympic Steel had a net margin of 2.06% and a return on equity of 7.30%. Research analysts predict that Olympic Steel, Inc. will post 3.41 EPS for the current year.

Olympic Steel Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 4th were issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. This is an increase from Olympic Steel’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 1st. Olympic Steel’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.58%.

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.