Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) Reaches New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Russel Metals Inc. (TSE:RUS)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as C$59.31 and last traded at C$59.27, with a volume of 15980 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at C$58.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. National Bank Financial raised their price objective on shares of Russel Metals from C$51.00 to C$52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Russel Metals from C$55.00 to C$63.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Scotia increased their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$54.00 to C$62.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$52.00 to C$54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Russel Metals from C$49.00 to C$58.50 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of C$59.50.

Russel Metals Stock Up 1.9%

The firm has a market cap of C$3.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.67, a PEG ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.50, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 2.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is C$51.15 and its 200-day moving average is C$47.08.

Russel Metals (TSE:RUS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported C$1.30 earnings per share for the quarter. The firm had revenue of C$1.42 billion during the quarter. Russel Metals had a net margin of 4.04% and a return on equity of 12.22%.

Russel Metals Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.44 dividend. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.0%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 28th. Russel Metals’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.31%.

Insider Activity

In other Russel Metals news, Director Brian Robie Hedges sold 4,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$57.00, for a total value of C$273,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately C$570,000. This trade represents a 32.43% decrease in their position. Also, insider John Gregory Reid sold 28,935 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of C$58.62, for a total transaction of C$1,696,169.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 306,147 shares of the company’s stock, valued at C$17,946,337.14. The trade was a 8.64% decrease in their position. Insiders sold a total of 43,935 shares of company stock valued at $2,551,192 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.85% of the company’s stock.

About Russel Metals

Russel Metals is one of the largest metals distribution companies in North America with a growing focus on value-added processing. It carries on business in three segments: metals service centers, energy field stores and steel distributors. Its network of metals service centers carries an extensive line of metal products in a wide range of sizes, shapes and specifications, including carbon hot rolled and cold finished steel, pipe and tubular products, stainless steel, aluminum and other non-ferrous specialty metals.