Alamos Gold (NYSE:AGI) and Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) Critical Contrast

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

Institutional and Insider Ownership

45.4% of Worthington Steel shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.3% of Alamos Gold shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.7% of Worthington Steel shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Alamos Gold 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

Worthington Steel has a beta of 2.12, meaning that its share price is 112% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Alamos Gold has a beta of 0.63, meaning that its share price is 37% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Dividends

Worthington Steel pays an annual dividend of $0.64 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Alamos Gold pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.5%. Worthington Steel pays out -104.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Alamos Gold pays out 6.4% 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.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for Worthington Steel and Alamos Gold, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Worthington Steel	1	1	1	0	2.00
Alamos Gold	0	1	8	0	2.89

Worthington Steel currently has a consensus price target of $46.00, suggesting a potential upside of 16.56%. Alamos Gold has a consensus price target of $47.50, suggesting a potential upside of 53.84%. Given Alamos Gold’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Alamos Gold is more favorable than Worthington Steel.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Worthington Steel and Alamos Gold”s 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	0.59	$8.50 million	($0.61)	-64.69
Alamos Gold	$1.81 billion	7.15	$885.80 million	$2.51	12.30

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

Profitability

This table compares Worthington Steel and Alamos Gold’s 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%
Alamos Gold	46.66%	18.95%	13.43%

Summary

Alamos Gold beats Worthington Steel on 11 of the 16 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Worthington Steel

Worthington Steel, Inc. is a steel processor that buys flat-rolled steel and prepares it to meet customers’ specifications. Its services include slitting, cutting to length, blanking and other processing, as well as the production of tailor-welded blanks and electrical steel laminations. The company serves customers in industries including automotive, construction, agriculture, energy and electrical manufacturing. Its operations and customer base span North America and Europe. Worthington Steel became an independent, publicly traded company in December 2023 through the separation of Worthington Industries’ steel processing business.

About Alamos Gold

Alamos Gold Inc. is a Canadian gold producer that explores for, develops and operates gold mines. The company’s operations are concentrated in Canada and Mexico, and it also advances exploration and development projects. Its operating assets include the Island Gold and Young-Davidson mines in Ontario, the Magino mine in Ontario, and the Mulatos mine in Sonora, Mexico. Alamos produces gold and works to expand its mineral resources through exploration and mine development. Founded in 2003, Alamos grew through acquisitions, including the additions of Young-Davidson and Island Gold.