Reviewing Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) and Metallus (NYSE:MTUS)

Metallus (NYSE:MTUS) and Worthington Steel (NYSE:WS) are both small-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, earnings, profitability and risk.

Profitability

This table compares Metallus and Worthington Steel’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Metallus	-2.12%	0.56%	0.35%
Worthington Steel	3.58%	9.43%	5.95%

Volatility & Risk

Metallus has a beta of 1.42, indicating that its stock price is 42% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Worthington Steel has a beta of 1.87, indicating that its stock price is 87% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Metallus and Worthington Steel, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Metallus	0	1	1	0	2.50
Worthington Steel	0	0	1	0	3.00

Metallus presently has a consensus target price of $24.00, suggesting a potential upside of 53.45%. Worthington Steel has a consensus target price of $34.00, suggesting a potential upside of 7.39%. Given Metallus’ higher possible upside, equities analysts plainly believe Metallus is more favorable than Worthington Steel.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

77.6% of Metallus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 45.4% of Worthington Steel shares are held by institutional investors. 3.6% of Metallus shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.2% of Worthington Steel shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Metallus and Worthington Steel”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Metallus	$1.08 billion	0.60	$1.30 million	($0.51)	-30.67
Worthington Steel	$3.09 billion	0.52	$110.70 million	$2.18	14.52

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

Summary

Worthington Steel beats Metallus on 9 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Metallus

Metallus Inc. manufactures and sells alloy steel, and carbon and micro-alloy steel products in the United States and internationally. The company offers special bar quality (SBQ) bars, seamless mechanical tubes, precision steel components, and billets that are used in gears, hubs, axles, crankshafts and motor shafts, oil country drill pipes, bits and collars, bearing races and rolling elements, bushings, fuel injectors, wind energy shafts, anti-friction bearings, artillery and mortar bodies, and other applications. It also provides custom-make precision steel components. It offers its products and services to the automotive, energy, industrial equipment, mining, construction, rail, aerospace and defense, heavy truck, agriculture, and power generation sectors. The company was formerly known as TimkenSteel Corporation and changed its name to Metallus Inc. in February 2024. Metallus Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Canton, Ohio.

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.