Reviewing POSCO (PKX) & Its Peers

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) is one of 1,984 publicly-traded companies in the “Metals & Mining” industry, but how does it compare to its peers? We will compare POSCO to related businesses based on the strength of its analyst recommendations, profitability, valuation, institutional ownership, dividends, risk and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

POSCO has a beta of 1.75, meaning that its stock price is 75% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, POSCO’s peers have a beta of 0.96, meaning that their average stock price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares POSCO and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
POSCO	$48.64 billion	$483.48 million	22.65
POSCO Competitors	$4.78 billion	$278.94 million	-26.16

POSCO has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. POSCO is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for POSCO and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
POSCO	1	0	1	1	2.67
POSCO Competitors	6414	22620	32328	1801	2.47

As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies have a potential upside of 24.21%. Given POSCO’s peers higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe POSCO has less favorable growth aspects than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares POSCO and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
POSCO	1.49%	1.68%	0.99%
POSCO Competitors	-1,161,736,352,322,426,200.00%	-52.87%	-2.06%

Dividends

POSCO pays an annual dividend of $1.15 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.2%. POSCO pays out 50.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies pay a dividend yield of 10.0% and pay out 10.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. POSCO lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

15.9% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of POSCO shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.6% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

POSCO beats its peers on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

POSCO Company Profile

POSCO, now organized under POSCO Holdings Inc., is a South Korean steel and materials group. Its principal steelmaking business produces a range of products, including hot- and cold-rolled steel, stainless steel, plates, wire rod and electrical steel. POSCO steel products serve industries such as automotive, construction, shipbuilding, energy and manufacturing. The company operates internationally, supplying customers in South Korea and overseas through its production facilities and global sales network.