Worthington Steel (WS) Competitors

Gerdau (NYSE:GGB) and Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, media sentiment, risk, earnings, profitability, valuation, dividends and institutional ownership.

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of GGB or WS?

1.5% of Gerdau shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.4% of Worthington Steel shares are held by institutional investors. 0.0% of Gerdau shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.6% of Worthington Steel shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is GGB or WS more profitable?

Gerdau has a net margin of 4.81% compared to Worthington Steel's net margin of 3.58%. Worthington Steel's return on equity of 9.43% beat Gerdau's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Gerdau	4.81%	6.51%	4.29%
Worthington Steel	3.58%	9.43%	5.95%

Which has more risk & volatility, GGB or WS?

Gerdau has a beta of 1.38, indicating that its stock price is 38% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Worthington Steel has a beta of 1.89, indicating that its stock price is 89% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is GGB or WS a better dividend stock?

Gerdau pays an annual dividend of $0.08 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.5%. Worthington Steel pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Gerdau pays out 27.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Worthington Steel pays out 29.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Gerdau is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Do analysts recommend GGB or WS?

Gerdau currently has a consensus price target of $3.80, suggesting a potential upside of 21.02%. Worthington Steel has a consensus price target of $36.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.05%. Given Gerdau's higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Gerdau is more favorable than Worthington Steel.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Gerdau	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Worthington Steel	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has better valuation and earnings, GGB or WS?

Gerdau has higher revenue and earnings than Worthington Steel. Gerdau is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Worthington Steel, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Gerdau	$12.43B	0.50	$846.59M	$0.29	10.83
Worthington Steel	$3.09B	0.55	$110.70M	$2.18	15.43

Does the media prefer GGB or WS?

In the previous week, Worthington Steel had 1 more articles in the media than Gerdau. MarketBeat recorded 7 mentions for Worthington Steel and 6 mentions for Gerdau. Worthington Steel's average media sentiment score of 1.31 beat Gerdau's score of 1.09 indicating that Worthington Steel is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Gerdau	4 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Worthington Steel	3 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Summary

Worthington Steel beats Gerdau on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.