POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Time to Buy?

Shares of POSCO (NYSE:PKX) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 238,267 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 8% from the previous session’s volume of 219,705 shares.The stock last traded at $70.43 and had previously closed at $71.39.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PKX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings raised POSCO from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group raised POSCO from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research lowered POSCO from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised POSCO from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, POSCO has an average rating of “Hold”.

POSCO Stock Up 0.8%

The firm has a market cap of $21.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.63 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $68.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.77.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.12. POSCO had a return on equity of 1.35% and a net margin of 1.19%. Equities analysts forecast that POSCO will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On POSCO

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

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.