Critical Analysis: Worthington Steel (WS) versus The Competition

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) is one of 1,988 public companies in the “Metals & Mining” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its rivals? We will compare Worthington Steel to similar businesses based on the strength of its earnings, risk, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, analyst recommendations and profitability.

Risk and Volatility

Worthington Steel has a beta of 2.27, indicating that its share price is 127% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Worthington Steel’s rivals have a beta of 0.99, indicating that their average share price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Worthington Steel and its rivals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Worthington Steel	0.50%	8.87%	4.89%
Worthington Steel Competitors	-1,161,736,352,322,426,600.00%	-16.44%	-2.06%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

45.4% of Worthington Steel shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 16.2% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Worthington Steel shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.6% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Dividends

Worthington Steel pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Worthington Steel pays out 46.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies pay a dividend yield of 8.6% and pay out 10.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Worthington Steel lags its rivals as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Worthington Steel and its rivals gross revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Worthington Steel	$3.44 billion	$8.50 million	25.95
Worthington Steel Competitors	$173.89 billion	$272.63 million	-24.87

Worthington Steel’s rivals have higher revenue and earnings than Worthington Steel. Worthington Steel is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its rivals, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Worthington Steel and its rivals, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Worthington Steel	0	1	1	1	3.00
Worthington Steel Competitors	6315	22397	32021	1767	2.47

Worthington Steel currently has a consensus price target of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 27.53%. As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies have a potential upside of 16.70%. Given Worthington Steel’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Worthington Steel is more favorable than its rivals.

Summary

Worthington Steel beats its rivals on 9 of the 15 factors compared.

About Worthington Steel

Worthington Steel, Inc. operates as a steel processor in North America. It offers carbon flat-rolled steel and tailor welded blanks, as well as electrical steel laminations; and aluminum tailor welded blanks. The company serves various end-markets, including automotive, heavy truck, agriculture, construction, and energy. Worthington Steel, Inc. was incorporated in 2023 and is based in Columbus, Ohio.