POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Stock Rating Upgraded by Zacks Research

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised shares of POSCO from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group upgraded shares of POSCO from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of POSCO from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, POSCO presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

POSCO Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of PKX stock opened at $60.45 on Monday. POSCO has a twelve month low of $44.99 and a twelve month high of $92.40. The stock has a market cap of $18.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.77 and a beta of 1.52. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $70.54 and a 200 day moving average of $62.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $11.88 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.75 billion. POSCO had a net margin of 1.19% and a return on equity of 1.34%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that POSCO will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On POSCO

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKX. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of POSCO by 56.7% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 12,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in POSCO by 96.2% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 109,074 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,380,000 after buying an additional 53,469 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its stake in POSCO by 82.7% during the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 200,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,729,000 after buying an additional 90,777 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. increased its stake in POSCO by 70.8% during the 1st quarter. Bridgewater Advisors Inc. now owns 9,685 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $566,000 after buying an additional 4,016 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of POSCO during the first quarter valued at approximately $814,000.

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.