7 Undervalued Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel Stocks for Wednesday, November 22

By Grace Malone
November 22, 2023
Diamond graphic indicating best value stocks in their industry
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Based on key financial metrics such as the price-to-sales ratio, shareholder yield and the price-earnings ratio, the following 7 stocks made the list for top value stocks in the Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel industry. Those looking for value stocks to add to their portfolio may want to use this list as a starting point for further investment research.

Latest Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel Stock News

Before choosing which top Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel stock to buy, be sure to conduct proper due diligence: analyze various financial metrics and look at historical data, public statements and news coverage.

The iron & steel industry was negatively impacted by pandemic-related economic shutdowns, supply chain disruptions and freezes in consumption. However, the industry has experienced a swift recovery in domestic steel demand, and steel prices were at multi-year highs at the start of 2021. As of April 28, 2021, steel prices were up 57% from the beginning of the year and up 156% compared to the full-year average price in 2020. Despite the increase in profitability for steel producers as a result, the higher prices may not be sustainable given significant excess capacity. 

Why Focus on Undervalued Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel Stocks?

Value investors seek to buy stocks at a discount to their intrinsic value. Long-term returns show that such strategies are advantageous. Value stocks, as a group, tend to outperform growth stocks over extended periods of time. Typically, value investors perform financial analysis of numerous metrics, don’t follow the herd and are long-term investors.

AAII’s A+ Investor Value Grade is derived from a stock’s Value Score. The Value Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of the price-to-sales ratio, price-earnings ratio, enterprise-value-to-EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) ratio, shareholder yield, price-to-book-value ratio and price-to-free-cash-flow ratio. The score is variable, meaning it can consider all six ratios or, should any of the six ratios not be valid, the remaining ratios that are valid. To be assigned a Value Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) ratio and corresponding ranking for at least two of the six valuation ratios.

What Goes Into AAII’s Value Grade?

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data as well as the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movement. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors with that task.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A–F grades for more than just value. It is possible for a stock to appear cheap based on one valuation metric but appear expensive on another. It is also possible for one valuation ratio to be associated with outperforming stocks during certain periods of time but not others. Some stocks may even have null values for certain metrics like the price-earnings ratio or the price-to-book ratio but not others. An example of this would be a company with losses instead of profits or a negative book value because of heavy borrowing. Negative earnings or book value result in non-meaningful ratios that are left blank or null.

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7 Undervalued Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel Stocks

Of course, there are countless value stocks that are worth mentioning, but this is a concise list of the top 7 undervalued stocks in the Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel industry for Wednesday, November 22, 2023. Let’s take a closer look at their individual scores to see how they measure up against each other and the Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel industry median.

Company Ticker Price/Sales Price/Earnings EV/EBITDA Shareholder Yield Price/Book Value Price/Free Cash Flow Value Grade
Ascent Industries Co ACNT 0.31 na na 1.2% 0.85 3.8 A
Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp AP 0.13 21.2 7.5 (1.7%) 0.50 na B
Cleveland-Cliffs Inc CLF 0.39 25.5 7.3 1.6% 1.07 6.2 B
ArcelorMittal SA (ADR) MT 0.28 4.9 4.4 7.9% 0.36 6.6 A
Posco Holdings Inc (ADR) PKX 0.46 28.8 10.3 1.8% 0.65 na B
Sims Ltd (ADR) SMSMY 0.32 14.8 13.9 10.0% 0.98 28.1 B
United States Steel Corporation X 0.42 7.6 4.2 6.5% 0.70 na A

The Value Grade is assigned based on how each stock’s composite valuation compares to all other stocks.

The process for assigning grades starts with each variable for a given stock. The percentile rankings for all valid ratios that a stock has are calculated. So, for instance, a stock could have a price-to-book ranking in the 43rd percentile, a price-earnings ranking in the 67th percentile, a price-to-sales ranking in the 23rd percentile, etc. Then, those rankings are averaged for each stock. (A minimum of two valid variables are required, though all six will be used if available.)

Once the average of the individual variables is calculated, that average is ranked against all stocks. Put another way, each stock’s composite valuation is compared to all other stocks. These ranks are then sorted into quintiles from the cheapest 20% (a grade of A) to the most expensive 20% (a grade of F).

As always, we recommend that you conduct proper due diligence and research before investing in any security. We also suggest that investors utilize numerous grades, not just value, when it comes to deciding whether a company is a good fit for their allocation needs.

Ascent Industries Co’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Metric Score ACNT Industry Median
Price/Sales 14 0.31 0.56
Price/Earnings na na 11.4
EV/EBITDA na na 6.7
Shareholder Yield 37 1.2% 3.3%
Price/Book Value 25 0.85 1.14
Price/Free Cash Flow 9 3.8 8.0

Ascent Industries Co. is an industrial manufacturing company. The Company is engaged in the production and distribution of industrial tubular products, including stainless steel and galvanized pipe and tube, seamless carbon pipe and tube, and specialty chemicals. The Company operates through two segments: Tubular Products and Specialty Chemicals. The Tubular Products segment serves markets through pipe and tube and customers in the appliance, architectural, automotive and commercial transportation, brewery, chemical, petrochemical, pulp and paper, mining, power generation (including nuclear), water and waste-water treatment, liquid natural gas (LNG), food processing, pharmaceutical, oil and gas and other industries. The Company?s Specialty Chemicals segment produces specialty products for the pulp and paper, coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE), textile, automotive, household, agricultural, water and waste-water treatment, construction, oil and gas and other industries.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Ascent Industries Co has a Value Score of 95, which is considered to be undervalued.

When you look at Ascent Industries Co’s price-to-sales ratio at 0.31 compared to the industry median at 0.56, this company has a lower price relative to revenue compared to its peers. This could make Ascent Industries Co’s stock more attractive for value investors.

Shareholder yield is the sum of a stock’s dividend yield (paid over previous 12 months minus special dividends) and the percentage of net share buybacks over the previous 12 months. Ascent Industries Co’s shareholder yield is lower than its industry median ratio of 3.28%. Value investors may look for an attractive shareholder yield because it can be a powerful tool for identifying if the company has a good management team.

As one of the most common value metrics, the price-to-book ratio evaluates a company’s current market price relative to its book value. Ascent Industries Co’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 1.14. This could make Ascent Industries Co more attractive to investors looking for a new addition to their portfolio.

Lastly, let’s take a look at Ascent Industries Co’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio (P/FCF), which can indicate a company’s market value relative to its operating cash flow. Ascent Industries Co’s price-to-free-cash-flow ratio is lower than its industry median ratio of 8.03. This could make Ascent Industries Co more attractive because the lower P/FCF ratio indicates that Ascent Industries Co is undervalued. The P/FCF ratio metric can also be viewed over a long-term time frame to see if the company's cash flow to share price value is generally improving or worsening.

Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Metric Score AP Industry Median
Price/Sales 5 0.13 0.56
Price/Earnings 59 21.2 11.4
EV/EBITDA 39 7.5 6.7
Shareholder Yield 64 (1.7%) 3.3%
Price/Book Value 11 0.50 1.14
Price/Free Cash Flow na na 8.0

Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation manufactures and sells specialty metal products and customized equipment utilized by industry throughout the world. The Company?s segments include the Forged and Cast Engineered Products (FCEP) and the Air and Liquid Processing (ALP). The FCEP segment produces forged hardened steel rolls, cast rolls and forged engineered products. Its hardened steel rolls are used primarily in hot and cold rolling mills by producers of steel, aluminum and other metals. The ALP segment includes Aerofin, Buffalo Air Handling and Buffalo Pumps, all divisions of Air & Liquid Systems Corporation (Air & Liquid), a subsidiary of the Company. Aerofin Division of Air & Liquid Systems Corporation produces custom-engineered finned tube heat exchange coils and related heat transfer products. Buffalo Air Handling Division of Air & Liquid Systems Corporation produces large custom-designed air handling systems for the institutional pharmaceutical and general industrial building markets.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp has a Value Score of 72, which is considered to be undervalued.

Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp’s price-earnings ratio is 21.2 compared to the industry median at 11.4. This means that it has a higher price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp less attractive for value investors.

Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.14.

You can read more about Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Metric Score CLF Industry Median
Price/Sales 17 0.39 0.56
Price/Earnings 67 25.5 11.4
EV/EBITDA 37 7.3 6.7
Shareholder Yield 35 1.6% 3.3%
Price/Book Value 35 1.07 1.14
Price/Free Cash Flow 18 6.2 8.0

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. is a flat-rolled steel producer in North America. The Company is engaged in manufacturing iron ore pellets. It is vertically integrated from mined raw materials, direct reduced iron and ferrous scrap to primary steelmaking and downstream finishing, stamping, tooling, and tubing. It offers advanced high-strength steels (AHSS), hot-dipped galvanized, aluminized, galvalume, electrogalvanized, galvanneal, hot-rolled coil (HRC), cold-rolled coil, plate, tinplate, grain oriented electrical steel (GOES), non-oriented electrical steel (NOES), stainless steels, tool and die, stamped components, rail, slab and cast ingot. It provides steel solutions, such as operations of tooling and stamping, which provides advanced-engineered solutions, tool design and build, hot and cold-stamped components, and complex assemblies for the automotive market. It serves various markets, such as automotive, infrastructure and manufacturing, steel producers, and distributors and converters.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc has a Value Score of 74, which is considered to be undervalued.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc’s price-earnings ratio is 25.5 compared to the industry median at 11.4. This means that it has a higher price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Cleveland-Cliffs Inc less attractive for value investors.

Cleveland-Cliffs Inc’s price-to-book ratio is lower than its peers. This could make Cleveland-Cliffs Inc fairly attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.14.

You can read more about Cleveland-Cliffs Inc’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

ArcelorMittal SA (ADR)’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Metric Score MT Industry Median
Price/Sales 12 0.28 0.56
Price/Earnings 7 4.9 11.4
EV/EBITDA 16 4.4 6.7
Shareholder Yield 11 7.9% 3.3%
Price/Book Value 7 0.36 1.14
Price/Free Cash Flow 20 6.6 8.0

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).

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

ArcelorMittal SA (ADR) has a Value Score of 99, which is considered to be undervalued.

ArcelorMittal SA (ADR)’s price-earnings ratio is 4.9 compared to the industry median at 11.4. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes ArcelorMittal SA (ADR) more attractive for value investors.

ArcelorMittal SA (ADR)’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make ArcelorMittal SA (ADR) less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.14.

You can read more about ArcelorMittal SA (ADR)’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Posco Holdings Inc (ADR)’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Metric Score PKX Industry Median
Price/Sales 19 0.46 0.56
Price/Earnings 71 28.8 11.4
EV/EBITDA 54 10.3 6.7
Shareholder Yield 34 1.8% 3.3%
Price/Book Value 17 0.65 1.14
Price/Free Cash Flow na na 8.0

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.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Posco Holdings Inc (ADR) has a Value Score of 67, which is considered to be undervalued.

Posco Holdings Inc (ADR)’s price-earnings ratio is 28.8 compared to the industry median at 11.4. This means that it has a higher price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Posco Holdings Inc (ADR) less attractive for value investors.

Posco Holdings Inc (ADR)’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Posco Holdings Inc (ADR) less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.14.

You can read more about Posco Holdings Inc (ADR)’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

Sims Ltd (ADR)’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Metric Score SMSMY Industry Median
Price/Sales 14 0.32 0.56
Price/Earnings 45 14.8 11.4
EV/EBITDA 67 13.9 6.7
Shareholder Yield 8 10.0% 3.3%
Price/Book Value 32 0.98 1.14
Price/Free Cash Flow 69 28.1 8.0

Sims Limited is engaged in metal recycling and provides circular solutions for technology. The principal activities of the Company include buying, processing, and selling of ferrous and non-ferrous recycled metals, and supporting businesses and data centers in managing end-of-life physical information technology (IT) assets through reuse, redeployment, and recycling. This includes IT asset disposition (ITAD) and e-waste recycling solutions. The Company's North America Metal (NAM), Australia and New Zealand Metal (ANZ) and UK Metal (UK) segments are engaged in ferrous and non-ferrous secondary recycling functions. Its Global Trading segment coordinates sales of ferrous bulk cargo shipments, non-ferrous sales into primarily China and Southeast Asia and brokerage sales on behalf of third and related parties. Its SA Recycling (SAR) segment is engaged in an investment in the SA Recycling joint venture. Its Sims Lifecycle Services (SLS) segment provides electronic recycling solutions.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

Sims Ltd (ADR) has a Value Score of 67, which is considered to be undervalued.

Sims Ltd (ADR)’s price-earnings ratio is 14.8 compared to the industry median at 11.4. This means that it has a higher price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes Sims Ltd (ADR) less attractive for value investors.

Sims Ltd (ADR)’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make Sims Ltd (ADR) less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.14.

You can read more about Sims Ltd (ADR)’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

United States Steel Corporation’s Value Grade

Value Grade:

Metric Score X Industry Median
Price/Sales 18 0.42 0.56
Price/Earnings 19 7.6 11.4
EV/EBITDA 15 4.2 6.7
Shareholder Yield 14 6.5% 3.3%
Price/Book Value 19 0.70 1.14
Price/Free Cash Flow na na 8.0

United States Steel Corporation (U.S Steel) is an integrated steel producer, which is engaged in producing and selling steel products, including flat-rolled and tubular products, in North America and Europe. The Company?s operations in the United States also include iron ore and coke production facilities and real estate operations. Its operations in Europe also include coke production facilities. The Company operates through four segments: North American Flat-Rolled (Flat-Rolled), Mini Mill, U. S. Steel Europe (USSE) and Tubular Products (Tubular). Its Flat-Rolled segment is engaged in the production of slabs, strip mill plates, sheets and tin mill products, as well as all iron ore and coke production facilities in the United States. The Mini Mill segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled and coated sheets and electrical steels. The USSE segment includes U. S. Steel Kosice (USSK), U. S. Steels integrated steel plant and coke production facilities in Slovakia, and its subsidiaries.

Stocks with a Value Score from 81 to 100 are considered deep value, those with a score between 61 and 80 are value and so on.

United States Steel Corporation has a Value Score of 97, which is considered to be undervalued.

United States Steel Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 7.6 compared to the industry median at 11.4. This means that it has a lower price relative to its earnings compared to its peers. This makes United States Steel Corporation more attractive for value investors.

United States Steel Corporation’s price-to-book ratio is higher than its peers. This could make United States Steel Corporation less attractive for value investors when compared to the industry median at 1.14.

You can read more about United States Steel Corporation’s key financial metrics like shareholder yield, price-to-free-cash-flow and EV/EBITDA ratio, or learn more about its Momentum and Growth Grades, by subscribing to A+ Investor.

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Other Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel Stock Grades

Value is just one of the five Stock Grades included in our A+ Investor service. AAII members can see the top-graded stocks—those with grades of A or B for value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality—on the A+ Stock Grades Screener.

Also, if you want full access to all of AAII’s premium services, you can subscribe to one convenient bundled plan called AAII Platinum where you can try out A+ Investor, AAII Dividend Investing, the Stock Superstars Report, Growth Investing and VMQ Stocks. With the other premium services, you can dive deep into additional metrics, portfolios, commentary and information about Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel stocks as well as other industrys.

Choosing Which of the 7 Best Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel Stocks Is Right for You

Choosing which value stocks to invest in will ultimately depend on your individual goals and allocation; however, comparing similar value stocks in the same industry can help you analyze which might be better investments for you in the long run. So, let’s take a look at the Value Grade for all of our stocks.

  • Ascent Industries Co stock has a Value Grade of A.
  • Ampco-Pittsburgh Corp stock has a Value Grade of B.
  • Cleveland-Cliffs Inc stock has a Value Grade of B.
  • ArcelorMittal SA (ADR) stock has a Value Grade of A.
  • Posco Holdings Inc (ADR) stock has a Value Grade of B.
  • Sims Ltd (ADR) stock has a Value Grade of B.
  • United States Steel Corporation stock has a Value Grade of A.

Now that you have a bit more background about each of the 7 undervalued stocks in the Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel industry as well as their overall grades, it’s time for you to conduct additional research to see if these could fit your portfolio needs based on your goals and risk tolerance. AAII can help you figure out both and identify which investments align with what works best for you.

We do so through a program of education that teaches you to invest for yourself and become an effective manager of your own wealth—no more relying on others for your financial independence. You can rely on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis that makes you a better investor.

A+ Investor adds to that qualitative teaching by giving you a powerful data suite that helps you whittle down investment decisions to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

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Additional Resources About Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel Stocks

Want to learn more about Metals & Mining - Iron & Steel stocks to see if they could be the right investment for you? Check out some additional resources and articles to help you on your financial journey.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.



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