Contrasting General Steel (OTCMKTS:GSIH) & Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF)

General Steel (OTCMKTS:GSIH) and Cleveland-Cliffs (NYSE:CLF) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, valuation, analyst recommendations, profitability, institutional ownership and earnings.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

67.7% of Cleveland-Cliffs shares are held by institutional investors. 53.3% of General Steel shares are held by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.0% of Cleveland-Cliffs shares are held by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares General Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
General Steel	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cleveland-Cliffs	-6.42%	-15.48%	-4.61%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares General Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
General Steel	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Cleveland-Cliffs	$18.90 billion	0.40	-$1.48 billion	($2.34)	-5.69

General Steel has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Cleveland-Cliffs.

Volatility and Risk

General Steel has a beta of -0.59, suggesting that its share price is 159% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Cleveland-Cliffs has a beta of 2.08, suggesting that its share price is 108% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations and price targets for General Steel and Cleveland-Cliffs, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
General Steel	0	0	0	0	0.00
Cleveland-Cliffs	2	8	1	0	1.91

Cleveland-Cliffs has a consensus target price of $12.85, indicating a potential downside of 3.42%. Given Cleveland-Cliffs’ stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Cleveland-Cliffs is more favorable than General Steel.

Summary

Cleveland-Cliffs beats General Steel on 6 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About General Steel

General Steel Holdings, Inc. engages in the business of cell research, development, storage, and cell culture service in the People's Republic of China. General Steel Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Beijing, the People's Republic of China.

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.