POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Sets New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Shares of POSCO (NYSE:PKX) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $65.00 and last traded at $64.95, with a volume of 2422 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $63.29.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of POSCO in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

POSCO Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $54.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a quick ratio of 1.38 and a current ratio of 1.96. The company has a market capitalization of $18.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 87.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.34 and a beta of 1.49.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $0.94 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $12.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.41 billion. POSCO had a net margin of 0.64% and a return on equity of 0.74%. As a group, equities analysts expect that POSCO will post 3.74 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PKX. Founders Capital Management grew its stake in POSCO by 100.0% during the third quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in shares of POSCO by 51.6% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 682 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of POSCO during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $66,000. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of POSCO by 1,276.9% in the 2nd 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. Finally, MAI Capital Management acquired a new position in shares of POSCO during the 2nd quarter valued at $73,000.

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.