Short Interest in Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI) Drops By 20.1%

Ryerson Holding Co. (NYSE:RYI) saw a significant decrease in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 513,500 shares, a decrease of 20.1% from the December 15th total of 642,700 shares. Approximately 1.9% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 245,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.1 days.

Insider Transactions at Ryerson

In related news, EVP Mark S. Silver sold 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.56, for a total value of $221,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 107,664 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,644,227.84. This represents a 7.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.88% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JB Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ryerson by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. JB Capital Partners LP now owns 2,131,069 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,430,000 after acquiring an additional 82,313 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ryerson by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,411,397 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,101,000 after acquiring an additional 43,780 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ryerson by 164.8% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,150,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,906,000 after purchasing an additional 715,990 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ryerson by 31.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 847,514 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,874,000 after acquiring an additional 203,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Ryerson by 14.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 783,631 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,281,000 after purchasing an additional 97,556 shares during the period. 94.81% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ryerson Stock Performance

Ryerson stock traded up $0.32 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $20.98. The stock had a trading volume of 6,378 shares, compared to its average volume of 224,434. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $668.05 million, a PE ratio of 34.47 and a beta of 1.59. Ryerson has a 12 month low of $17.18 and a 12 month high of $36.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $22.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $21.11.

Ryerson (NYSE:RYI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.20) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.26). Ryerson had a net margin of 0.46% and a return on equity of 2.66%. The business had revenue of $1.13 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.00 EPS.

Ryerson Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 5th were issued a $0.1875 dividend. This represents a $0.75 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, December 5th. Ryerson’s payout ratio is 122.95%.

Ryerson Company Profile

Ryerson Holding Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, processes and distributes industrial metals in the United States and internationally. It offers a line of products in carbon steel, stainless steel, alloy steels, and aluminum, as well as nickel and red metals in various shapes and forms, including coils, sheets, rounds, hexagons, square and flat bars, plates, structural, and tubing.