AK Steel Holding Corporation (NYSE: AKS) and Worthington Industries (NYSE:WOR) are both basic materials companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, dividends, risk and analyst recommendations.
Institutional & Insider Ownership
77.8% of AK Steel Holding Corporation shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 54.1% of Worthington Industries shares are held by institutional investors. 1.8% of AK Steel Holding Corporation shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 31.3% of Worthington Industries shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
This table compares AK Steel Holding Corporation and Worthington Industries’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| AK Steel Holding Corporation | 1.88% | 735.25% | 6.22% |
| Worthington Industries | 6.78% | 20.59% | 9.46% |
Dividends
Worthington Industries pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. AK Steel Holding Corporation does not pay a dividend. AK Steel Holding Corporation has raised its dividend for 6 consecutive years.
Earnings & Valuation
This table compares AK Steel Holding Corporation and Worthington Industries’ top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| AK Steel Holding Corporation | $5.96 billion | 0.28 | $718.20 million | $0.37 | 14.30 |
| Worthington Industries | $3.01 billion | 1.05 | $306.33 million | N/A | N/A |
AK Steel Holding Corporation has higher revenue and earnings than Worthington Industries.
Analyst Ratings
This is a breakdown of current ratings and recommmendations for AK Steel Holding Corporation and Worthington Industries, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| AK Steel Holding Corporation | 0 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 2.38 |
| Worthington Industries | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
AK Steel Holding Corporation presently has a consensus price target of $8.22, indicating a potential upside of 55.36%. Worthington Industries has a consensus price target of $46.50, indicating a potential downside of 6.65%. Given AK Steel Holding Corporation’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe AK Steel Holding Corporation is more favorable than Worthington Industries.
Volatility and Risk
AK Steel Holding Corporation has a beta of 2.86, meaning that its stock price is 186% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Worthington Industries has a beta of 1.14, meaning that its stock price is 14% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Summary
AK Steel Holding Corporation beats Worthington Industries on 9 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.
About AK Steel Holding Corporation
AK Steel Holding Corporation is a producer of flat-rolled carbon, stainless and electrical steels, and tubular products through its subsidiary, AK Steel Corporation (AK Steel). The Company also operates blast furnaces and electric arc furnaces. As of December 31, 2016, its operations included eight steelmaking and finishing plants, two coke plants and two tube manufacturing plants across states, including Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and a tube manufacturing plant in Mexico. These operations produce flat-rolled carbon, specialty stainless and electrical steels that it sells in sheet and strip form, and carbon and stainless steel that it finishes into welded steel tubing. It also produces metallurgical coal through its subsidiary, AK Coal Resources, Inc. In addition, the Company operates trading companies in Mexico and Europe that buy and sell steel and steel products and other materials.
About Worthington Industries
Worthington Industries, Inc. is a metals manufacturing company, focused on value-added steel processing and manufactured metal products. The Company’s segments include Steel Processing, Pressure Cylinders, Engineered Cabs and Other. The Steel Processing segment buys coils of steel from integrated steel mills and mini-mills, and also toll processes steel for steel mills, end users, service centers and other processors. The Pressure Cylinders segment manufactures and sells filled and unfilled pressure cylinders, tanks, hand torches, and oil and gas equipment along with various accessories and related products for end use market applications. The Engineered Cabs is a non-captive designer and manufacturer of custom-engineered open and enclosed cabs and operator stations and custom fabrications for heavy mobile equipment used in the agricultural, construction, forestry, mining and military industries. The Other segment includes Construction Services and Worthington Energy Innovations.
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