POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Hits New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $69.00 and last traded at $68.83, with a volume of 107796 shares. The stock had previously closed at $67.13.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of POSCO in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, POSCO has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

POSCO Trading Up 2.6%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $58.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $54.47. The stock has a market cap of $20.90 billion, a PE ratio of 52.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 1.47.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported ($0.61) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.45 by ($1.06). The firm had revenue of $10.61 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.85 billion. POSCO had a net margin of 0.97% and a return on equity of 1.09%. Sell-side analysts forecast that POSCO will post 3.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On POSCO

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PKX. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of POSCO by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 850,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,251,000 after buying an additional 41,381 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in POSCO by 14.1% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 549,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,051,000 after acquiring an additional 68,104 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 154,100 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its position in POSCO by 8.0% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 259,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,577,000 after purchasing an additional 19,312 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG lifted its stake in shares of POSCO by 135.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 199,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,637,000 after purchasing an additional 115,069 shares during the last quarter.

About POSCO

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.