POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Short Interest Down 16.7% in April

Key Points

• Short interest fell by 16.7% in April to 633,694 shares (about 0.2% of the stock), with a days-to-cover ratio of 3.6.
• POSCO shares opened at $77.78 and trade near a one‑year high ($78.90), with a market cap of $23.53 billion and an elevated valuation (P/E ~59.2); the 50‑day and 200‑day moving averages are $62.89 and $58.31 respectively.
• Analyst and institutional sentiment is mixed: UBS upgraded to Buy while Zacks cut to Strong Sell, resulting in an average "Hold" rating, and several funds either raised or initiated positions in Q1.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 633,694 shares, a decrease of 16.7% from the March 31st total of 761,162 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 177,078 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

POSCO Stock Performance

Shares of PKX opened at $77.78 on Thursday. POSCO has a one year low of $42.35 and a one year high of $78.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $62.89 and a 200 day moving average of $58.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.88 and a quick ratio of 1.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 59.24, a PEG ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.43.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1,864.07 by ($1,863.06). POSCO had a net margin of 0.97% and a return on equity of 1.09%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that POSCO will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on PKX. UBS Group upgraded POSCO from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Zacks Research lowered POSCO from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of POSCO from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold".

Hedge Funds Weigh In On POSCO

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in POSCO by 68.7% during the first quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 37,631 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 15,331 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in POSCO in the 1st quarter worth $219,000. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of POSCO in the first quarter valued at about $285,000. Keybank National Association OH bought a new position in shares of POSCO in the first quarter worth about $200,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in POSCO by 102.1% during the 1st quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,386 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $724,000 after purchasing an additional 6,258 shares during the period.

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.

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