(Bloomberg) -- U.S. Steel Corp. shares surged as investors cheered a stock buyback and a hike in dividends.

Adjusted earnings before items was $2.03 billion, the company said in a statement Thursday, better than the $2.01 billion average among Wall Street analysts. Shares of the Pittsburgh-based metal maker are on pace for a second straight annual gain as domestic steel prices rallied in the past year to the highest on record.

“Our future now includes a $300 million stock repurchase program and $0.05 per share quarterly dividend to begin directly rewarding stockholders for the progress we have made so far,” David Burritt, the chief executive of U.S. Steel said in the statement.

The report comes a week after the company’s three biggest competitors reported earnings that provided mixed sentiment to steel investors. Nucor Corp. the largest U.S. producer, said supply-chain bottlenecks were causing shipment delays, while second-ranked Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. said it will receive significantly higher steel prices from the annual contracts it books with customers. 

Shares rose 6.3% at 4:22 p.m. during after-hours trading in New York. The company hosts an earnings call with analysts Friday at 8:30 a.m.

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