Short Interest in POSCO (NYSE:PKX) Declines By 45.7%

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totaling 638,940 shares, a drop of 45.7% from the May 31st total of 1,177,138 shares. Currently, 0.2% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 473,238 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

POSCO Trading Down 2.8%

PKX traded down $1.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $49.96. 318,639 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 495,129. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $69.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $63.04. POSCO has a 1-year low of $44.99 and a 1-year high of $92.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.90, a quick ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28. The company has a market cap of $15.11 billion, a PE ratio of 29.56 and a beta of 1.57.

POSCO (NYSE:PKX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $11.88 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.75 billion. POSCO had a net margin of 1.19% and a return on equity of 1.34%. Equities analysts forecast that POSCO will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of POSCO

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in POSCO by 8.3% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,462 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 495 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in POSCO by 57.3% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 423,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,117,000 after purchasing an additional 154,100 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of POSCO by 59.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 49,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,401,000 after purchasing an additional 18,403 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in POSCO during the 2nd quarter worth $95,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in POSCO by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 259,374 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,577,000 after acquiring an additional 19,312 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

PKX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded POSCO from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. UBS Group raised shares of POSCO from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of POSCO from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of POSCO from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold”.

About POSCO

POSCO (NYSE: PKX) is a South Korea–based integrated steel producer founded in 1968 as Pohang Iron and Steel Company. Headquartered in Pohang, the company grew rapidly as part of South Korea’s industrialization program and developed large, integrated steelworks—most notably in Pohang and Gwangyang—that helped establish POSCO among the world’s largest steelmakers. It is structured as a diversified industrial group with steelmaking at its core and a range of downstream and trading businesses.

The company’s primary activities include ironmaking and steelmaking, producing a wide array of steel products such as hot-rolled and cold-rolled sheets, coated steels, plates, stainless and special steels, long products (bars and wire rods), and seamless pipes.