Critical Contrast: NIPPON STL & SU/S (NSSMY) and The Competition

Institutional and Insider Ownership

0.0% of NIPPON STL & SU/S shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.9% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are held by institutional investors. 17.6% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares NIPPON STL & SU/S and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
NIPPON STL & SU/S	4.50%	8.09%	3.70%
NIPPON STL & SU/S Competitors	-1,155,490,457,955,101,400.00%	-14.49%	-2.09%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares NIPPON STL & SU/S and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
NIPPON STL & SU/S	$51.19 billion	$1.76 billion	1.55
NIPPON STL & SU/S Competitors	$4.59 billion	$267.28 million	-19.98

NIPPON STL & SU/S has higher revenue and earnings than its peers. NIPPON STL & SU/S is trading at a higher price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more expensive than other companies in its industry.

Dividends

NIPPON STL & SU/S pays an annual dividend of $0.35 per share and has a dividend yield of 8.2%. NIPPON STL & SU/S pays out 12.6% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.3% and pay out 10.6% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. NIPPON STL & SU/S lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Volatility and Risk

NIPPON STL & SU/S has a beta of 1.35, meaning that its stock price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, NIPPON STL & SU/S’s peers have a beta of 0.99, meaning that their average stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

NIPPON STL & SU/S beats its peers on 7 of the 11 factors compared.

About NIPPON STL & SU/S

Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corporation engages in steelmaking and steel fabrication businesses worldwide. It operates in five segments: Steelmaking and Steel Fabrication, Engineering and Construction, Chemicals, New materials, and System Solutions. The company offers steel plates; hot- and cold-rolled steel sheets and coils, coated steel sheets, color coated steel sheets, electrolytic tin plates, and electrical steel sheets; bar and rod materials; and structural steel products. It also provides pipes and tubes; and railway, automotive, and construction and industrial machinery parts, such as railway wheels, driving mechanisms, axles, couplers, bogie trucks, brake disks, control bogies, brake calipers, test equipment, crankshafts and front axles, aluminum wheels, permanent magnet retarders, die materials, mill rolls, circular forgings, forged products for power generation, and shape-memory alloys. In addition, the company offers titanium products for use in automobiles, architecture, civil engineering and ocean development, aircraft, sports gears and consumer products, welded tubes, PHE, and chemical and electrolytic fields; stainless steel sheets, shapes, plates, and wire rods, as well as strips, clad steel sheets, nickel and nickel alloy products, and crystal series products; and steel slags. Further, it manufactures and markets industrial machinery and equipment; performs construction work under contract; and engages in waste processing and recycling activities, as well as in supplying electricity, gas, and heat. Additionally, the company offers coal-based chemical products and petrochemicals, as well as electronic materials; and materials for semiconductors and electronic parts, carbon fiber and composite products, and products that apply technologies for metal processing. It also provides computer systems engineering and consulting services; and IT-enabled outsourcing and other services. The company was founded in 1949 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.