POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Shares of POSCO (NYSE:PKX) gapped down prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $91.72, but opened at $87.75. POSCO shares last traded at $87.35, with a volume of 21,981 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on PKX. Weiss Ratings raised shares of POSCO from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Zacks Research downgraded shares of POSCO from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised shares of POSCO from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

POSCO Trading Down 3.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $26.74 billion, a PE ratio of 52.31 and a beta of 1.58. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $64.28 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.37.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.12. POSCO had a net margin of 1.19% and a return on equity of 1.35%. The firm had revenue of $11.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.75 billion. As a group, analysts predict that POSCO will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of POSCO

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PKX. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new position in shares of POSCO during the third quarter worth about $8,851,000. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in POSCO in the 4th quarter worth about $9,223,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in POSCO by 57.3% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its stake in POSCO by 135.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 199,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,637,000 after purchasing an additional 115,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of POSCO by 14.1% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 549,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,051,000 after buying an additional 68,104 shares in 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.