AK Steel Declares Labor Agreement Ratification At Butler Works

AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE:AKS) announced that members of the United Auto Workers (‘UAW’), Local 3303, ratified a 3-years labor agreement, which covers roughly 1,200 hourly production and maintenance employees at its Pennsylvania-based Butler Works.

Moreover, the contract was ratified through a voting held on Jul 11 and Jul 12. The agreement is effective till Jun 15, 2022. Notably, the facility manufactures a wide array of flat-rolled steel products, which includes electrical steels along with a variety of carbon and stainless steels.

Per management, the new agreement continues to provide a flexible and competitive labor contract for the company and its employees at Butler Works.

The company’s shares have plunged 52.2% in the past year compared with the industry’s 26.4% decline.

In April, AK Steel cut its profit forecast for 2019, considering the change in hot-rolled carbon spot market pricing. It expects net income in the range of $76-$96 million or 24-30 cents per share for 2019, down from prior expectations of $160-$180 million or 51-57 cents.

Adjusted net income for 2019 is projected in the range of $153-$173 million or 48-54 cents per share. Adjusted EBITDA is expected between $505 million and $525 million, down from the previous view of $515 million and $535 million.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

AK Steel currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space are SSR Mining Inc. (NASDAQ:SSRM) , Flexible Solutions International Inc (NYSE:FSI) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) plc (NYSE:RIO) , all sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

SSR Mining has an expected earnings growth rate of 100% for 2019. The company’s shares have gained 38.2% in the past year.

Flexible Solutions has projected earnings growth rate of 342.9% for the current year. The company’s shares have surged 155.3% in a year’s time.

Rio Tinto has an estimated earnings growth rate of 38.7% for the current year. Its shares have moved up 14.7% in the past year.

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