United States Steel Corporation Stock Sell Recommendation Reiterated (X)

Editor's Note: 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.

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 generally high debt management risk, disappointing return on equity, poor profit margins and generally disappointing historical performance in the stock itself.

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Highlights from the ratings report include:

• The debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02 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 0.90, which illustrates the inability to avoid short-term cash problems.
• Current return on equity is lower than its ROE from the same quarter one year prior. This is a clear sign of weakness within the company. 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 8.10%. It has decreased from the same quarter the previous year. Along with this, the net profit margin of 0.90% significantly trails the industry average.
• X's stock share price has done very poorly compared to where it was a year ago: Despite any rallies, the net result is that it is down by 25.77%, which is also worse that the performance of the S&P 500 Index. Investors have so far failed to pay much attention to the earnings improvements the company has managed to achieve over the last 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.
• Despite the weak revenue results, X has outperformed against the industry average of 21.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly dropped by 8.4%. The declining revenue has not hurt the company's bottom line, with increasing earnings per share.

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). United States has a market cap of $3.05 billion and is part of the basic materials sector and metals & mining industry. The company has a P/E ratio of -10.5, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are down 20.3% year to date as of the close of trading on Tuesday.

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.

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