Comparing First Quantum Minerals (OTCMKTS:FQVLF) and Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS)

First Quantum Minerals (OTCMKTS:FQVLF) and Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) are both materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, institutional ownership, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, risk and earnings.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for First Quantum Minerals and Worthington Steel, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Quantum Minerals	1	1	7	1	2.80
Worthington Steel	1	1	1	0	2.00

Worthington Steel has a consensus target price of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 12.78%. Given Worthington Steel’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Worthington Steel is more favorable than First Quantum Minerals.

Volatility and Risk

First Quantum Minerals has a beta of 1.4, indicating that its share price is 40% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Worthington Steel has a beta of 2.24, indicating that its share price is 124% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares First Quantum Minerals and Worthington Steel’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Quantum Minerals	-1.44%	-2.29%	-1.05%
Worthington Steel	-0.56%	7.49%	3.14%

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares First Quantum Minerals and Worthington Steel”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Quantum Minerals	$5.24 billion	3.81	-$28.00 million	($0.11)	-217.18
Worthington Steel	$3.44 billion	0.61	$8.50 million	($0.61)	-66.86

Worthington Steel has lower revenue, but higher earnings than First Quantum Minerals. First Quantum Minerals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Worthington Steel, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

45.4% of Worthington Steel shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Worthington Steel shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Worthington Steel beats First Quantum Minerals on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Quantum Minerals

First Quantum Minerals Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the exploration, development, and production of mineral properties. It primarily explores for copper, nickel, pyrite, silver, gold, and zinc ores, as well as produces acid. The company has operating mines located in Zambia, Panama, Finland, Turkey, Spain, Australia, and Mauritania, as well as a development project in Zambia. It is exploring the Taca Taca copper-gold-molybdenum project in Argentina, as well as the Haquira copper deposit in Peru. The company was formerly known as First Quantum Ventures Ltd. and changed its name to First Quantum Minerals Ltd. in July 1996. The company is based in Vancouver, Canada.

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.