Analyzing Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) & General Steel (OTCMKTS:GSIH)

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) and General Steel (OTCMKTS:GSIH) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, valuation, profitability, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk and dividends.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

67.7% of Cleveland-Cliffs shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.0% of Cleveland-Cliffs shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 53.3% of General Steel shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Volatility & Risk

Cleveland-Cliffs has a beta of 2.08, suggesting that its stock price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, General Steel has a beta of -0.59, suggesting that its stock price is 159% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations for Cleveland-Cliffs and General Steel, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cleveland-Cliffs	2	8	1	0	1.91
General Steel	0	0	0	0	0.00

Cleveland-Cliffs presently has a consensus price target of $12.85, indicating a potential downside of 3.42%. Given Cleveland-Cliffs’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Cleveland-Cliffs is more favorable than General Steel.

Profitability

This table compares Cleveland-Cliffs and General Steel’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cleveland-Cliffs	-6.42%	-15.48%	-4.61%
General Steel	N/A	N/A	N/A

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Cleveland-Cliffs and General Steel”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cleveland-Cliffs	$18.90 billion	0.40	-$1.48 billion	($2.34)	-5.69
General Steel	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

General Steel has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cleveland-Cliffs.

Summary

Cleveland-Cliffs beats General Steel on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. in August 2017. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

About General Steel

General Steel Holdings, Inc. engages in the business of cell research, development, storage, and cell culture service in the People's Republic of China. General Steel Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.