United States Steel Corporation Stock Sell Recommendation Reiterated (X)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- United States Steel Corporation (NYSE:X) has been reiterated by TheStreet Ratings as a sell with a ratings score of D+ . The company's weaknesses can be seen in multiple areas, such as its deteriorating net income, generally weak debt management, disappointing return on equity, poor profit margins and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself.

• ACTIVE STOCK TRADERS: Check out TheStreet's special offer for Real Money, headlined by Jim Cramer, now!

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Metals & Mining industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 54.5% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $222.00 million to $101.00 million.
• The debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08 is relatively high when compared with the industry average, suggesting a need for better debt level management. Along with the unfavorable debt-to-equity ratio, X maintains a poor quick ratio of 0.92, which illustrates the inability to avoid short-term cash problems.
• The company's current return on equity has slightly decreased from the same quarter one year prior. This implies a minor weakness in the organization. Compared to other companies in the Metals & Mining industry and the overall market, UNITED STATES STEEL CORP's return on equity significantly trails that of both the industry average and the S&P 500.
• The gross profit margin for UNITED STATES STEEL CORP is currently extremely low, coming in at 10.80%. It has decreased from the same quarter the previous year. Along with this, the net profit margin of 2.00% significantly trails the industry average.
• Despite any intermediate fluctuations, we have only bad news to report on this stock's performance over the last year: it has tumbled by 44.29%, worse than the S&P 500's performance. Consistent with the plunge in the stock price, the company's earnings per share are down 53.38% compared to the year-earlier quarter. Naturally, the overall market trend is bound to be a significant factor. However, in one sense, the stock's sharp decline last year is a positive for future investors, making it cheaper (in proportion to its earnings over the past year) than most other stocks in its industry. But due to other concerns, we feel the stock is still not a good buy right now.

United States Steel Corporation engages in the production and sale of steel mill products in North America and Europe. The company operates in three segments: Flat-rolled Products (Flat-rolled), U. S. Steel Europe (USSE), and Tubular Products (Tubular). The company has a P/E ratio of -10.5931,and below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. United States has a market cap of $3.12 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and metals & mining industry. Shares are down 20.4% year to date as of the close of trading on Thursday.

You can view the full United States Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.

--Written by a member of TheStreet Ratings Staff.

TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.

For more information on United States Steel Corporation click any of the following:

• United States Steel Corporation Stock Price

• United States Steel Corporation Analyst Ratings

• United States Steel Corporation Key Stats & Profile

• United States Steel Corporation Earnings

• United States Steel Corporation Ratio Comparison

• United States Steel Corporation Growth Rates

• United States Steel Corporation Balance Sheet

• United States Steel Corporation Cash Flow

• United States Steel Corporation Income Statement