[Ferro-Alloys.com] On Wednesday, Jefferies lowered U.S. Steel’s (X) target price from $16 to $14. Jefferies also lowered the target price in July. The stock has sold off badly this year. Overall, the stock has fallen 33% this year. The company lost almost 50% of its market capitalization last year. AK Steel (AKS) fell 60% last year. However, AK Steel has risen 4.8% in 2019. In June, U.S. Steel announced the partial closure of two of its US blast furnaces. The partial closures were due to the sharp fall in US steel prices.

U.S. Steel is aggressively spending to revamp its plants. The company already had a $2 billion asset revitalization plan in place. In May, the company announced a new round of investments that would cost $1.2 billion. The company is investing in its plants when markets are in a downturn. The company’s balance sheet doesn’t give it the desired leeway. The company would have to take on more debt to fund the capex. U.S. Steel will likely post negative free cash flows between 2019 and 2021 due to its aggressive capex plan. (Market Realist)

• [Editor:kangmingfei]