POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s Why

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . 279,393 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 10% from the previous session’s volume of 253,085 shares.The stock last traded at $54.2750 and had previously closed at $57.84.

Analyst Ratings Changes

PKX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Zacks Research upgraded POSCO from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group upgraded POSCO from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered POSCO from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised POSCO from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy”.

POSCO Stock Down 6.1%

The company has a market cap of $16.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.14 and a beta of 1.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $70.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $63.11.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.12. POSCO had a net margin of 1.19% and a return on equity of 1.34%. The business had revenue of $11.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.75 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that POSCO will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of POSCO

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PKX. Xponance LLC increased its position in POSCO by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 4,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $236,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in POSCO by 4.5% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 4,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in POSCO by 51.6% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its stake in POSCO by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 6,430 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group grew its position in POSCO by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,636 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares in the last quarter.

POSCO Company Profile

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.