Shares of several steel makers fell Thursday as ArcelorMittal and United States Steel Corp. received downgrades, with a Barclays Capital analyst predicting weaker steel prices.

Also contributing to investor caution on steel companies was a disappointing quarterly report from steel processor Worthington Industries Inc. The company cited sharply lower steel prices.

Barclays analyst Dana Guido cut her 2009 price target for U.S. hot rolled sheet steel to $528 per ton from $750 per ton. With more than 20 percent of global steel capacity and more than 40 percent of U.S. steel capacity idle, pricing power has shifted from producers to buyers, she said in a note to investors.

Guido downgraded ArcelorMittal to "Equal Weight" from "Overweight." Guido said in a note to investors that "balance sheet concerns are likely to prevent significant outperformance in the months ahead."

Separately, analyst Sal Tharani of Goldman Sachs downgraded United States Steel Corp. to "Neutral" from "Buy."

He said he is concerned about U.S. Steel's relatively fixed cost structure, particularly its ownership of iron ore mines in the U.S. and an expected increase in its coking coal cost next year. He also cited a deterioration in US Steel's pension asset value.

In midday trading, shares of US Steel fell $3.41, or 8.1 percent, to $38.71, while AK Steel Holding Corp. fell 97 cents, or 8.8 percent, to $10.11. Nucor Corp. fell $2, or 4.2 percent, to $45.26. ArcelorMittal fell 46 cents to $25.80.

Meanwhile, Worthington reported a fiscal second-quarter loss due to the economic downturn and sharp drop in steel prices and demand. Its shares dropped $1, or 7.4 percent, to $12.44.

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