POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Sees Large Volume Increase – What’s Next?

Shares of POSCO (NYSE:PKX) saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 238,267 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 8% from the previous session’s volume of 219,705 shares.The stock last traded at $70.43 and had previously closed at $71.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PKX. Wall Street Zen upgraded POSCO from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. UBS Group raised shares of POSCO from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of POSCO from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised POSCO from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold”.

POSCO Stock Down 1.7%

The stock has a market cap of $21.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.83 and a beta of 1.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $69.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.97.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On POSCO

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in POSCO in the third quarter worth about $500,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 68,104 shares in the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC increased its holdings in POSCO by 156.9% during the fourth quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC now owns 22,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,187,000 after buying an additional 13,620 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its stake in POSCO by 135.6% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 199,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,637,000 after buying an additional 115,069 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Founders Capital Management boosted its position in POSCO by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Founders Capital Management now owns 600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 300 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.