Critical Survey: Worthington Steel (WS) versus Its Peers

Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) is one of 1,986 publicly-traded companies in the “Metals & Mining” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Worthington Steel to related businesses based on the strength of its institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings and valuation.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

45.4% of Worthington Steel shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 15.9% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Worthington Steel shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 17.5% of shares of all “Metals & Mining” companies are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Worthington Steel pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Worthington Steel pays out 46.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies pay a dividend yield of 9.6% and pay out 10.8% of their earnings in the form of a dividend. Worthington Steel lags its peers as a dividend stock, given its lower dividend yield and higher payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Worthington Steel and its peers gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Worthington Steel	$3.44 billion	$8.50 million	27.72
Worthington Steel Competitors	$173.75 billion	$277.04 million	-27.24

Worthington Steel’s peers have higher revenue and earnings than Worthington Steel. Worthington Steel 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.

Risk & Volatility

Worthington Steel has a beta of 2.24, indicating that its share price is 124% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Worthington Steel’s peers have a beta of 1.03, indicating that their average share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Worthington Steel and its peers, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Worthington Steel	0	2	1	0	2.33
Worthington Steel Competitors	6340	22493	32114	1770	2.47

Worthington Steel currently has a consensus target price of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 19.39%. As a group, “Metals & Mining” companies have a potential upside of 18.49%. Given Worthington Steel’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Worthington Steel is more favorable than its peers.

Profitability

This table compares Worthington Steel and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Worthington Steel	0.50%	8.87%	4.89%
Worthington Steel Competitors	-1,164,884,689,320,590,400.00%	-48.74%	-2.12%

Summary

Worthington Steel peers beat Worthington Steel on 8 of the 15 factors compared.

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.