POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Upgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Buy” Rating

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of POSCO (NYSE:PKX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Saturday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on PKX. Weiss Ratings downgraded POSCO from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. UBS Group upgraded POSCO from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised POSCO from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, June 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

POSCO Stock Down 2.5%

POSCO stock opened at $53.12 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $16.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.12 and a beta of 1.57. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $57.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $62.75. POSCO has a 1-year low of $44.99 and a 1-year high of $92.40. 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 posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.30 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.45. POSCO had a net margin of 1.79% and a return on equity of 2.00%. The company had revenue of $12.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.96 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that POSCO will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On POSCO

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC bought a new position in shares of POSCO during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of POSCO by 51.6% in 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. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of POSCO by 1,276.9% in the second quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $69,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC bought a new stake in POSCO during the fourth quarter worth $85,000. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in POSCO during the second quarter worth $95,000.

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.