The following are the top rated Basic Materials stocks according to Validea's Book/Market Investor model based on the published strategy of Joseph Piotroski. This value-quant strategy screens for high book-to-market stocks, and then separates out financially sound firms by looking at a host of improving financial criteria.
ALGOMA STEEL GROUP INC (ASTL) is a small-cap value stock in the Iron & Steel industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski is 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Algoma Steel Group Inc. (Algoma), formerly 1295908 B.C. Ltd., is a Canada-based company, which is an integrated producer of hot and cold rolled steel products with its operations located in Canada. It produces sheet and plate products that are sold primarily to customers in Canada and Midwest United States of America. The Company has a raw steel production capacity of an estimated 2.8 million tons per year. The Company's mill produces hot rolled sheet steel (HRC) in North America owing in part to its direct strip production complex (DSPC), which is a thin slab caster in North America with direct coupling to a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) melt shop. Algoma delivers its solutions to direct applications in the automotive, construction, energy, defense, and manufacturing sectors. Its subsidiaries include Algoma Steel Holdings Inc., Algoma Steel Inc., Algoma Steel Inc. USA, Algoma Docks GP Inc., Algoma Steel Intermediate Holdings Inc. and Legato Merger Corp.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| BOOK/MARKET RATIO: | PASS |
| RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| CASH COMPARED TO NET INCOME: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN LONG TERM DEBT/ASSETS | PASS |
| CHANGE IN CURRENT RATIO: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN SHARES OUTSTANDING: | FAIL |
| CHANGE IN GROSS MARGIN: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN ASSET TURNOVER: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of ALGOMA STEEL GROUP INC
GERDAU SA (ADR) (GGB) is a mid-cap value stock in the Iron & Steel industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski is 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Gerdau SA is a Brazil-based manufacturer of steel products. The Company is engaged in the production and commercialization of steel products in general, through its mills located in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the United States, Mexico, Peru, the Dominican Republic, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Firm's product portfolio includes crude steel; finished products for the construction industry, such as rebar, wire-rods, structural shapes, hot-rolled coils and heavy plates; finished industrial products, such as commercial rolled-steel bars, light profiles and wires; agricultural products, such as stakes, smooth wire and barbed-wire; and special steel items. The Company's activities include also operations of iron ore mines located in the state of Minas Gerais.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| BOOK/MARKET RATIO: | PASS |
| RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| CASH COMPARED TO NET INCOME: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN LONG TERM DEBT/ASSETS | PASS |
| CHANGE IN CURRENT RATIO: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN SHARES OUTSTANDING: | FAIL |
| CHANGE IN GROSS MARGIN: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN ASSET TURNOVER: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of GERDAU SA (ADR)
ARCELORMITTAL SA (ADR) (MT) is a large-cap value stock in the Iron & Steel industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski is 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: ArcelorMittal SA is a Luxembourg-based holding company. The Company, via its subsidiaries, owns and operates steel, iron ore manufacturing and coal mining facilities in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and Africa. The Company is organized in five operating segments: NAFTA; Brazil; Europe; Africa and Commonwealth of Independent States (ACIS), and Mining. The NAFTA, Brazil, Europe, and ACIS segments produce flat, long, and tubular products including slabs, hot-rolled coil, cold-rolled coil, coated steel products, among others. The Mining segment provides steel operations and comprises all mines owned by the Company in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| BOOK/MARKET RATIO: | PASS |
| RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| CASH COMPARED TO NET INCOME: | FAIL |
| CHANGE IN LONG TERM DEBT/ASSETS | PASS |
| CHANGE IN CURRENT RATIO: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN SHARES OUTSTANDING: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN GROSS MARGIN: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN ASSET TURNOVER: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of ARCELORMITTAL SA (ADR)
POSCO HOLDINGS INC (ADR) (PKX) is a large-cap value stock in the Iron & Steel industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski is 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Posco Holdings Inc, formerly Posco, is a Korea-based company principally engaged in the manufacture and distribution of steel products. The Company operates its business through four segments. The Steel segment produces and sells steel products such as hot rolled steel, cold rolled steel, stainless steel, among others. The Trading segment engages in the global trade, including the export and import of steel products. The Engineering and Construction (E&C) segment plans, designs and builds industrial plants, civil engineering projects, commercial and residential buildings. The Other segment is engaged in the power plants, information and communication related services and other businesses.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| BOOK/MARKET RATIO: | PASS |
| RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| CASH COMPARED TO NET INCOME: | FAIL |
| CHANGE IN LONG TERM DEBT/ASSETS | PASS |
| CHANGE IN CURRENT RATIO: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN SHARES OUTSTANDING: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN GROSS MARGIN: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN ASSET TURNOVER: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of POSCO HOLDINGS INC (ADR)
RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS INC (RFP) is a small-cap value stock in the Paper & Paper Products industry. The rating according to our strategy based on Joseph Piotroski is 90% based on the firm’s underlying fundamentals and the stock’s valuation. A score of 80% or above typically indicates that the strategy has some interest in the stock and a score above 90% typically indicates strong interest.
Company Description: Resolute Forest Products Inc. operates in the forest products industry and offers a range of forest products, including market pulp, tissue, wood products and paper, which are marketed in over 60 countries. The Company operates through four segments: market pulp, tissue, wood products and paper. Its market pulp includes virgin pulp and recycled bleached kraft (RBK) pulp. It manufactures a range of tissue products for the retail and away-from-home markets, including recycled and virgin paper products, covering premium, value and economy grades. Its specialty papers consist of uncoated mechanical papers, including supercalendered paper and white paper, as well as uncoated freesheet papers. It sells newsprint to newspaper publishers worldwide and also to commercial printers in North America for uses, such as inserts and flyers. It owns or operates approximately 40 facilities, as well as power generation assets in the United States and Canada.
The following table summarizes whether the stock meets each of this strategy's tests. Not all criteria in the below table receive equal weighting or are independent, but the table provides a brief overview of the strong and weak points of the security in the context of the strategy's criteria.
| BOOK/MARKET RATIO: | PASS |
| RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN RETURN ON ASSETS: | PASS |
| CASH FLOW FROM OPERATIONS: | PASS |
| CASH COMPARED TO NET INCOME: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN LONG TERM DEBT/ASSETS | PASS |
| CHANGE IN CURRENT RATIO: | FAIL |
| CHANGE IN SHARES OUTSTANDING: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN GROSS MARGIN: | PASS |
| CHANGE IN ASSET TURNOVER: | PASS |
Detailed Analysis of RESOLUTE FOREST PRODUCTS INC
More details on Validea's Joseph Piotroski strategy
About Joseph Piotroski: Piotroski isn't your typical Wall Street big shot. In fact, he's not even a professional investor. He's a good old numbers-crunching accountant and college professor. But in 2000, shortly after he started teaching at the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, Piotroski published a groundbreaking paper in the Journal of Accounting Research entitled "Value Investing: The Use of Historical Financial Statement Information to Separate Winners from Losers". In it, Piotroski laid out an accounting-based stock-selection/shorting method that produced a 23 percent average annual back-tested return from 1976 through 1996 -- more than double the S&P 500's gain during that time. Piotroski's findings were reported in major financial publiations like SmartMoney. Today, he teaches accounting at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business.
About Validea: Validea is aninvestment researchservice that follows the published strategies of investment legends. Validea offers both stock analysis and model portfolios based on gurus who have outperformed the market over the long-term, including Warren Buffett, Benjamin Graham, Peter Lynch and Martin Zweig. For more information about Validea, click here
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
