United States Steel Co. (NYSE:X) was downgraded by investment analysts at Argus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday, The Fly reports. They currently have a $6.67 target price on the stock, up from their prior target price of $4.00. Argus’ price target indicates a potential downside of 4.71% from the stock’s current price. The analysts noted that the move was a valuation call.

Shares of United States Steel (NYSE:X) traded up 3.929% on Thursday, reaching $7.275. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,681,057 shares. The stock’s market cap is $1.06 billion. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $7.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.08. United States Steel has a 12 month low of $6.15 and a 12 month high of $27.68.

United States Steel (NYSE:X) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 26th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.83) by $0.60. The business had revenue of $2.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.52 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 36.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that United States Steel will post ($2.22) earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 10th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.05 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 9th. This represents a $0.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on X. Rosenblatt Securities began coverage on United States Steel in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Sunday, January 24th. Citigroup Inc. reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $10.00 target price (down from $12.00) on shares of United States Steel in a research report on Friday, November 6th. Nomura cut their price target on United States Steel from $12.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 14th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on United States Steel from $14.00 to $9.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. United States Steel presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.80.

A number of institutional investors recently made changes to their positions in X. Creative Planning boosted its position in shares of United States Steel by 195.0% in the fourth quarter. Creative Planning now owns 216,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,727,000 after buying an additional 143,065 shares during the period. Russell Frank Co boosted its position in shares of United States Steel by 347.0% in the fourth quarter. Russell Frank Co now owns 160,511 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,306,000 after buying an additional 124,606 shares during the period. Simplex Trading boosted its position in shares of United States Steel by 414.9% in the fourth quarter. Simplex Trading now owns 143,431 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 115,575 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of United States Steel during the fourth quarter worth $322,000. Finally, First Dallas Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of United States Steel by 169.6% in the fourth quarter. First Dallas Securities Inc. now owns 55,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after buying an additional 35,113 shares in the last quarter.

United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) is a steel producer. The Company is engaged in producing flat-rolled and tubular products with production operations in North America and Europe. The Company operates through three segments: Flat-rolled Products (Flat-rolled), U. S. Steel Europe (USSE) and Tubular Products (Tubular). The results of the Company’s railroad and real estate businesses are combined under the Other Businesses category. The Flat-rolled Products segment includes the operating results of all facilities within U. S. Steel’s integrated steel plants in the United States, except the Fairfield pipe facility. The USSE segment includes the operating results of U. S. Steel Kosice (USSK), the Company’s steel plant and coke production facilities in Slovakia. The Tubular segment includes the operating results of U. S. Steel’s tubular production facilities, primarily in the United States, and equity investees in the United States and Brazil.

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