Franklin Resources Inc. Trims Holdings in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X)

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its position in United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X - Get Rating) by 45.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 57,020 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 47,495 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.'s holdings in United States Steel were worth $1,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brandywine Global Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in United States Steel in the fourth quarter worth $3,864,000. Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in United States Steel in the fourth quarter worth $498,000. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. increased its stake in United States Steel by 34.8% in the fourth quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 3,561,945 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $89,227,000 after purchasing an additional 920,120 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in United States Steel in the fourth quarter worth $101,000. Finally, Aviva PLC purchased a new stake in United States Steel in the fourth quarter worth $3,144,000. 75.02% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shares of NYSE:X opened at $21.92 on Tuesday. United States Steel Co. has a 12-month low of $16.41 and a 12-month high of $31.55. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a PE ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 2.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

United States Steel (NYSE:X - Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.61 by $0.16. United States Steel had a return on equity of 19.66% and a net margin of 9.07%. The company had revenue of $4.47 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.05 earnings per share. United States Steel's revenue for the quarter was down 14.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that United States Steel Co. will post 4.32 EPS for the current year.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.05 per share. This represents a $0.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 5th. United States Steel's payout ratio is 2.97%.

A number of analysts have weighed in on X shares. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on United States Steel from $30.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on United States Steel in a research note on Tuesday, May 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered United States Steel from a "peer perform" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, June 1st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on United States Steel from $27.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.00.

United States Steel Corp. engages in the manufacturing and selling of steel products. It operates through the following business segments: Flat-Rolled Products, Mini Mill, U.S. Steel Europe, and Tubular Products. The Flat-Rolled Products segment includes managing steel plants and production facilities that manufacture steel slabs, rounds, strip mill plates, sheets, tin mill, iron ore, and coke.

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