Head to Head Contrast: POSCO (NYSE:PKX) & Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP)

Compass Minerals International (NYSE:CMP) and POSCO (NYSE:PKX) are both materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation, earnings, risk and analyst recommendations.

Risk & Volatility

Compass Minerals International has a beta of 1.25, suggesting that its stock price is 25% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, POSCO has a beta of 1.64, suggesting that its stock price is 64% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and recommmendations for Compass Minerals International and POSCO, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Compass Minerals International	2	2	1	0	1.80
POSCO	0	2	1	0	2.33

Compass Minerals International currently has a consensus target price of $27.00, indicating a potential upside of 16.85%. Given Compass Minerals International’s higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Compass Minerals International is more favorable than POSCO.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Compass Minerals International and POSCO”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Compass Minerals International	$1.24 billion	0.78	-$79.80 million	$0.43	53.74
POSCO	$48.64 billion	0.35	$483.48 million	$2.64	21.50

POSCO has higher revenue and earnings than Compass Minerals International. POSCO is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Compass Minerals International, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

99.8% of Compass Minerals International shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Compass Minerals International shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.0% of POSCO shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Compass Minerals International and POSCO’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Compass Minerals International	1.42%	12.75%	2.28%
POSCO	1.79%	1.99%	1.18%

Summary

Compass Minerals International beats POSCO on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Compass Minerals International

Compass Minerals International, Inc., provides essential minerals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Salt and Plant Nutrition. The Salt segment produces, markets, and sells sodium chloride and magnesium chloride, including rock salt, mechanically and solar evaporated salt, and brine and flake magnesium chloride products; and purchases potassium chloride and calcium chloride to sell as finished products or to blend with sodium chloride to produce specialty products. This segment provides products for use as a deicer for roadways, consumer, and professional use; as an ingredient in chemical production; for water treatment, human, and animal nutrition; and for various other consumer and industrial uses, as well as records management services. The Plant Nutrition segment produces sulfate of potash specialty fertilizers in various grades that are used in broadcast spreaders, direct application, and liquid fertilizer solutions under the Protassium+ brand name; turf products used by the turf and ornamental markets, as well as for blends used on golf course greens; organic products; and develops and produces a portfolio of magnesium chloride-based aerial and ground fire retardant products. This segment provides its products to distributors and retailers of crop inputs, as well as growers. The company was formerly known as Salt Holdings Corporation and changed its name to Compass Minerals International, Inc. in December 2003. Compass Minerals International, Inc. was founded in 1844 and is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas.

About POSCO

POSCO Holdings Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as an integrated steel producer in Korea and internationally. It operates through six segments: Steel, Trading, Construction, Logistics and Others, Green Materials and Energy, and Others. The company engages in the production, import, sale, and export of steel products, such as hot and cold rolled steel, stainless steel, plates, wire rods, and silicon steel sheets, as well as pig iron, billets, blooms, and slabs; trading of steel and raw materials, textiles, agricultural commodities, and other goods; natural resources development and power generation activities; and planning, designing, and construction of industrial plants, civil engineering projects, and commercial and residential buildings. It is also involved in the manufacture and sale of various energy-related and other industrial materials, including anode and cathode materials for rechargeable batteries; investment business; and provision of alternative environmentally-friendly energy solutions, as well as information technology and operational technology, and integrated logistics services. POSCO Holdings Inc. was incorporated in 1968 and is based in Seoul, South Korea.