On Wednesday, UBS slightly lowered the target for ArcelorMittal from 31.00 to 30.00 euro, but repeated the buying advice on the steel giant. “After an eventful 2020, ArcelorMittal is now more resilient and generates more cash,” said analyst Andrew Jones. He points to the sale of the American assets and to the Italian Ilva, which means that the margins are “structurally higher”. ArcelorMittal can also invest in growth markets such as India, making the portfolio more in line with the current steel market, UBS believes. However, Jones warns that current steel prices may not remain so high. But even if prices fall sharply, the analyst believes that ArcelorMittal can still return 22 percent of its market capitalisation to shareholders in 2021 and 2022. And that could even go up to 39 percent if the remaining 38 million shares of Cleveland-Cliffs are sold and the proceeds are paid out.
