Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) & Huadi International Group (NASDAQ:HUDI) Critical Contrast

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) and Huadi International Group (NASDAQ:HUDI) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and valuation.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for Worthington Steel and Huadi International Group, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Worthington Steel	1	1	1	0	2.00
Huadi International Group	1	0	0	0	1.00

Worthington Steel currently has a consensus target price of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.03%. Given Worthington Steel’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Worthington Steel is more favorable than Huadi International Group.

Profitability

This table compares Worthington Steel and Huadi International Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Worthington Steel	3.64%	10.12%	5.77%
Huadi International Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Risk and Volatility

Worthington Steel has a beta of 2.06, indicating that its share price is 106% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Huadi International Group has a beta of 2.14, indicating that its share price is 114% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Worthington Steel and Huadi International Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Worthington Steel	$3.09 billion	0.63	$110.70 million	$1.70	22.73
Huadi International Group	$62.49 million	0.28	-$1.40 million	N/A	N/A

Worthington Steel has higher revenue and earnings than Huadi International Group.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

45.4% of Worthington Steel shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.2% of Huadi International Group shares are held by institutional investors. 2.6% of Worthington Steel shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 75.6% of Huadi International Group shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Worthington Steel beats Huadi International Group on 10 of the 12 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Worthington Steel

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.

About Huadi International Group

Huadi International Group Co., Ltd. manufactures and sells industrial stainless steel seamless pipes and tubes in the People's Republic of China. The company's products are used in the oil and gas transmission, chemistry engineering, food processing, medical devices, aeronautics and astronautics, boiler, irrigation works construction, electricity, automobile, naval architecture, paper mill, and mechanical industries. It also exports its products to 20 countries, including the United States, Mexico, Thailand, Australia, Argentina, India, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, Taiwan, Canada, and internationally. The company was founded in 1992 and is based in Wenzhou, the People's Republic of China.