POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Stock Price Down 8.1% – Here’s Why

POSCO (NYSE:PKX)’s stock price was down 8.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $79.07 and last traded at $81.46. Approximately 64,856 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 210,499 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PKX shares. Weiss Ratings raised shares of POSCO from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. UBS Group upgraded POSCO from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered POSCO from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

POSCO Stock Up 0.4%

The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $65.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $60.31. The company has a market capitalization of $24.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.87 and a beta of 1.58.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.89 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $11.88 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.75 billion. POSCO had a net margin of 1.19% and a return on equity of 1.35%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that POSCO will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in POSCO by 8.3% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,462 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $307,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $20,117,000 after purchasing an additional 154,100 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP grew its holdings in POSCO by 59.2% during the second quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 49,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 18,403 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of POSCO in the second quarter valued at approximately $95,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of POSCO by 8.0% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 259,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,577,000 after buying an additional 19,312 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.