Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT)

ArcelorMittal S.A. (NYSE:MT) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock traders purchased 4,703 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 70% compared to the typical volume of 2,774 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of ArcelorMittal from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Bank of America raised shares of ArcelorMittal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $30.00 to $32.90 in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, ArcelorMittal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.17.

ArcelorMittal Trading Down 2.3 %

ArcelorMittal stock opened at $27.72 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $25.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.54. ArcelorMittal has a 52 week low of $20.52 and a 52 week high of $29.38. The stock has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a PE ratio of 16.80, a P/E/G ratio of 0.14 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

ArcelorMittal (NYSE:MT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The basic materials company reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61 by ($0.09). ArcelorMittal had a return on equity of 4.31% and a net margin of 2.14%. Equities research analysts predict that ArcelorMittal will post 3.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of ArcelorMittal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MT. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of ArcelorMittal by 89.6% during the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,134 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in ArcelorMittal by 68.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,464 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 595 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in ArcelorMittal by 76.2% during the fourth quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 4,878 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $113,000 after buying an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in ArcelorMittal by 76.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 5,963 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $137,000 after buying an additional 2,586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Callan Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in ArcelorMittal in the 4th quarter valued at about $207,000. 9.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About ArcelorMittal

ArcelorMittal SA, together with its subsidiaries, operates as integrated steel and mining companies in the United States, Europe, and internationally. It offers semi-finished flat products, including slabs; finished flat products comprising plates, hot- and cold-rolled coils and sheets, hot-dipped and electro-galvanized coils and sheets, tinplate, and color coated coils and sheets; semi-finished long products, such as blooms and billets; finished long products consisting of bars, wire-rods, structural sections, rails, sheet piles, and wire-products; and seamless and welded pipes and tubes.