Head to Head Survey: Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) and First Quantum Minerals (OTCMKTS:FQVLF)

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

Institutional & Insider Ownership

45.4% of Worthington Steel shares are held by institutional investors. 2.7% of Worthington Steel shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments 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 1.5%. First Quantum Minerals pays an annual dividend of $0.06 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.3%. Worthington Steel pays out -104.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Quantum Minerals pays out 30.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Worthington Steel is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Valuation and Earnings

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Worthington Steel	$3.44 billion	0.63	$8.50 million	($0.61)	-69.18
First Quantum Minerals	$5.24 billion	3.73	-$28.00 million	$0.20	117.00

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

Volatility & Risk

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

Analyst Recommendations

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

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Worthington Steel	1	1	1	0	2.00
First Quantum Minerals	1	1	6	1	2.78

Worthington Steel presently has a consensus target price of $46.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.00%. Given Worthington Steel’s higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Worthington Steel is more favorable than First Quantum Minerals.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Worthington Steel	-0.56%	7.49%	3.14%
First Quantum Minerals	2.65%	-0.03%	-0.02%

Summary

Worthington Steel beats First Quantum Minerals on 9 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.