Wall Street Zen Upgrades POSCO (NYSE:PKX) to Hold

Key Points

• POSCO's stock rating was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from "sell" to "hold," indicating improved analyst sentiment.
• Morgan Stanley also upgraded POSCO from an "equal weight" to an "overweight" rating, signaling a positive outlook from another major financial analyst.
• Despite these upgrades, POSCO's stock has experienced a 4.9% decline, with recent earnings missing consensus estimates and lower revenues reported.

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of POSCO (NYSE:PKX - Free Report) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Morgan Stanley upgraded POSCO from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, July 4th.

POSCO Stock Up 0.3%

POSCO stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $54.00. 26,058 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 267,685. The business has a fifty day moving average of $52.14 and a 200 day moving average of $48.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.89. The firm has a market cap of $16.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.66, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.36. POSCO has a 12-month low of $39.40 and a 12-month high of $74.01.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.52 by ($0.17). POSCO had a net margin of 0.69% and a return on equity of 0.81%. The business had revenue of $12.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.21 billion. Research analysts anticipate that POSCO will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of POSCO by 157.0% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 429,264 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $18,613,000 after acquiring an additional 262,257 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of POSCO in the first quarter worth $7,814,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of POSCO by 57.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 423,253 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $20,117,000 after purchasing an additional 154,100 shares in the last quarter. Ovata Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of POSCO during the fourth quarter worth $4,791,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of POSCO during the fourth quarter worth $3,801,000.

POSCO Company Profile

POSCO Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated steel producer in Korea and internationally. It operates through six segments: Steel, Trading, Construction, Logistics and Others, Green Materials and Energy, and Others. The company engages in the production, import, sale, and export of steel products, such as hot and cold rolled steel, stainless steel, plates, wire rods, and silicon steel sheets, as well as pig iron, billets, blooms, and slabs; trading of steel and raw materials, textiles, agricultural commodities, and other goods; natural resources development and power generation activities; and planning, designing, and construction of industrial plants, civil engineering projects, and commercial and residential buildings.