POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Rating Lowered to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of POSCO (NYSE:PKX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

POSCO Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:PKX opened at $71.60 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. POSCO has a 12 month low of $67.42 and a 12 month high of $133.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $78.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $83.87. The company has a market cap of $21.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.04, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.44.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The basic materials company reported ($0.52) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $14.15 billion during the quarter. POSCO had a return on equity of 3.02% and a net margin of 2.45%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that POSCO will post 4.65 earnings per share for the current year.

POSCO Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 1st were paid a $0.4726 dividend. This represents a $1.89 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.64%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 28th. POSCO’s payout ratio is currently 29.41%.

Institutional Trading of POSCO

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PKX. WESPAC Advisors LLC bought a new stake in POSCO in the third quarter worth about $550,000. Advisor Partners II LLC increased its position in shares of POSCO by 25.1% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 13,344 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,368,000 after acquiring an additional 2,677 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of POSCO during the third quarter worth approximately $640,000. Foster Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of POSCO during the third quarter worth approximately $222,000. Finally, Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC increased its position in shares of POSCO by 187.5% during the third quarter. Paradigm Asset Management Co. LLC now owns 1,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $118,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period.

POSCO Company Profile

POSCO Holdings Inc, together with its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells iron and steel rolled products in South Korea and internationally. It operates in two segments Steel and Others. The company offers hot and cold rolled steel, steel plates, wire rods, galvanized steel, electrical steel, stainless steel, and titanium.