Analyzing JFE (OTCMKTS:JFEEF) and SSAB (OTCMKTS:SSAAY)

JFE (OTCMKTS:JFEEF) and SSAB (OTCMKTS:SSAAY) are both mid-cap basic materials companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares JFE and SSAB”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
JFE	$31.91 billion	0.26	$606.33 million	$0.76	16.96
SSAB	$9.78 billion	0.81	$617.08 million	$0.25	16.00

SSAB has lower revenue, but higher earnings than JFE. SSAB is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than JFE, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of recent ratings for JFE and SSAB, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
JFE	0	0	0	0	0.00
SSAB	0	2	2	0	2.50

Risk & Volatility

JFE has a beta of 0.32, meaning that its share price is 68% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, SSAB has a beta of 1.31, meaning that its share price is 31% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares JFE and SSAB’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
JFE	1.63%	2.94%	1.33%
SSAB	5.17%	7.33%	4.77%

Summary

SSAB beats JFE on 8 of the 11 factors compared between the two stocks.

About JFE

JFE Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, engages in steel, engineering, and trading businesses in Japan and internationally. Its Steel segment produces and sells various steel products, processed steel products, and raw materials, as well as operates in the transportation, facility maintenance, and construction businesses. The company's Engineering segment handles the engineering of energy, urban environment, steel structures and industrial machinery, recycling, and electricity retailing projects. Its Trading segment purchases, processes, and distributes steel products, raw materials for steel production, nonferrous metal products, food, etc. JFE Holdings, Inc. was incorporated in 2002 and is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

About SSAB

SSAB AB (publ) produces and sells steel products in Sweden, Finland, Rest of Europe, the United States, and internationally. It operates through five segments: SSAB Special Steels, SSAB Europe, SSAB Americas, Tibnor, and Ruukki Construction. The SSAB Special Steels segment offers quenched and tempered steels, and advanced high-strength steel products for steel and plate production. The SSAB Europe segment provides strip, heavy plate, and tubular products. The SSAB Americas segment sells heavy plates for steel and plate production. The Tibnor segment distributes a range of steel and non-ferrous metals in the Nordics and Baltics. The Ruukki Construction segment produces and sells energy-efficient building and construction solutions. It markets its steel products under the Strenx, Hardox, Docol, GreenCoat, Toolox, Armox, Duroxite, SSAB AM, SSAB Boron, SSAB Domex, SSAB Form, SSAB Laser, SSAB Weathering, Cor-Ten, and SSAB Multisteel brands. The company's products are used by customers in the heavy transport, construction and infrastructure, industrial applications, construction machinery, energy, and material handling markets. SSAB AB (publ) was founded in 1878 and is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden.