Contrasting Worthington Steel (WS) and Its Peers

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) is one of 1,987 publicly-traded companies in the “Metals & Mining” industry, but how does it contrast to its peers? We will compare Worthington Steel to related companies based on the strength of its institutional ownership, dividends, analyst recommendations, risk, profitability, valuation and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Worthington Steel has a beta of 2.27, indicating that its share price is 127% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Worthington Steel’s peers have a beta of 1.02, indicating that their average share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Worthington Steel and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Worthington Steel	$3.44 billion	$8.50 million	23.42
Worthington Steel Competitors	$174.27 billion	$277.23 million	-32.48

Worthington Steel’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Worthington Steel. Worthington Steel 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.

Dividends

Worthington Steel pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Worthington Steel pays out 46.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.3% and pay out 10.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Worthington Steel lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

45.4% of Worthington Steel shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.9% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Worthington Steel shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.7% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Worthington Steel	0.50%	8.87%	4.89%
Worthington Steel Competitors	-1,161,736,352,322,426,800.00%	-9.12%	-2.11%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Worthington Steel and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Worthington Steel	0	1	1	1	3.00
Worthington Steel Competitors	6303	22410	31976	1766	2.47

Worthington Steel presently has a consensus price target of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 41.30%. As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies have a potential upside of 14.40%. Given Worthington Steel’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Worthington Steel is more favorable than its peers.

Summary

Worthington Steel beats its peers on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

Worthington Steel Company Profile

Worthington Steel, Inc. operates as a steel processor in North America. It offers carbon flat-rolled steel and tailor welded blanks, as well as electrical steel laminations; and aluminum tailor welded blanks. The company serves various end-markets, including automotive, heavy truck, agriculture, construction, and energy. Worthington Steel, Inc. was incorporated in 2023 and is based in Columbus, Ohio.