POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $78.63, but opened at $71.77. POSCO shares last traded at $73.6160, with a volume of 117,277 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Zacks Research cut POSCO from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded POSCO from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upgraded POSCO from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, POSCO presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

POSCO Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $67.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $61.06. The company has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.82 and a beta of 1.58.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.12. POSCO had a return on equity of 1.35% and a net margin of 1.19%. On average, equities research analysts predict that POSCO will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of POSCO

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PKX. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in shares of POSCO during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Founders Capital Management increased its position in shares of POSCO by 100.0% during the third quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of POSCO by 51.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of POSCO by 1,276.9% during the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares during the period. Finally, Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of POSCO during the fourth quarter worth $85,000.

About POSCO

POSCO (NYSE: PKX) is a South Korea–based integrated steel producer founded in 1968 as Pohang Iron and Steel Company. Headquartered in Pohang, the company grew rapidly as part of South Korea’s industrialization program and developed large, integrated steelworks—most notably in Pohang and Gwangyang—that helped establish POSCO among the world’s largest steelmakers. It is structured as a diversified industrial group with steelmaking at its core and a range of downstream and trading businesses.

The company’s primary activities include ironmaking and steelmaking, producing a wide array of steel products such as hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheets, coated steels, plates, stainless and special steels, long products (bars and wire rods), and seamless pipes.