POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of POSCO (NYSE:PKX) passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Thursday after Weiss Ratings upgraded the stock from a sell (d+) rating to a hold (c-) rating. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $56.39 and traded as high as $63.94. POSCO shares last traded at $63.5410, with a volume of 190,035 shares changing hands.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen raised POSCO from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. UBS Group raised POSCO from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Reduce”.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On POSCO

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in POSCO by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 850,425 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $45,251,000 after acquiring an additional 41,381 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of POSCO by 14.1% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 549,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,051,000 after purchasing an additional 68,104 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings 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 during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of POSCO by 8.0% during the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 259,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,577,000 after purchasing an additional 19,312 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its position in shares of POSCO by 135.6% in the fourth 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 period.

POSCO Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $61.72 and a 200 day moving average of $56.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $19.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.29, a current ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

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

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.