Reviewing Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) & ZK International Group (NASDAQ:ZKIN)

Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) and ZK International Group (NASDAQ:ZKIN) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

67.7% of Cleveland-Cliffs shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 0.3% of ZK International Group shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Cleveland-Cliffs shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 29.8% of ZK International Group shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Cleveland-Cliffs has a beta of 1.91, indicating that its stock price is 91% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, ZK International Group has a beta of 2.5, indicating that its stock price is 150% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for Cleveland-Cliffs and ZK International Group, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Cleveland-Cliffs	1	3	2	1	2.43
ZK International Group	0	0	0	0	0.00

Cleveland-Cliffs presently has a consensus price target of $9.78, suggesting a potential upside of 1.58%. Given Cleveland-Cliffs’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, research analysts plainly believe Cleveland-Cliffs is more favorable than ZK International Group.

Profitability

This table compares Cleveland-Cliffs and ZK International Group’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Cleveland-Cliffs	-6.35%	-12.84%	-4.74%
ZK International Group	N/A	N/A	N/A

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Cleveland-Cliffs and ZK International Group”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Cleveland-Cliffs	$19.19 billion	0.25	-$754.00 million	($2.44)	-3.94
ZK International Group	$108.20 million	0.09	-$2.78 million	N/A	N/A

ZK International Group has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Cleveland-Cliffs.

Summary

Cleveland-Cliffs beats ZK International Group on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Cleveland-Cliffs

Cleveland-Cliffs is the largest flat-rolled steel company and the largest iron ore pellet producer in North America. The company is vertically integrated from mining through iron making, steelmaking, rolling, finishing and downstream with hot and cold stamping of steel parts and components. The company was formerly known as Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. and changed its name to Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. in August 2017. Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

About ZK International Group

ZK International Group Co., Ltd., through its subsidiaries, engages in the designing, producing, and selling double-press thin-walled stainless steel, carbon steel, and single-press tubes and fittings in the People's Republic of China. It offers carbon and stainless steel strips; carbon and stainless steel pipes; light gauge stainless steel pipes; pipe connections and fittings; and couplings, unions, adapters, caps, plug pipes, elbows, three-way fittings, tees, cross, side-inlet elbows, wyes, reducers, bushings, pipe fasteners, and pipe flanges. The company also provides stainless steel band, copper strip, valve, light industry machinery and equipment, and other stainless steel products. Its products are used in various applications, including water and gas transmission within urban infrastructural development, residential housing development, food and beverage production, oil and gas exploitation, and agricultural irrigation. The company also exports its products to Europe, Africa, and Southeast Asia. ZK International Group Co., Ltd. was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Wenzhou, the People's Republic of China.