HLP vs WS vs PKOH Stock Comparison

Hongli, Worthington Steel and Park Ohio Holdings Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
HLP Hongli Group Inc.
$3.64 +64.7% 1M +149.3% 1Y
Market cap
$284.94M
P/E
137.6x
Revenue (TTM)
—
Div. yield
–
Metal Fabrication Industrials
1 win
WS Worthington Steel, Inc.
$42.74 +18.0% 1M +36.0% 1Y
Market cap
$2.10B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$5.30B
Div. yield
0.02%
Metal Fabrication Industrials
3 wins
PKOH Park Ohio Holdings Corp
$44.48 -7.4% 1M +117.3% 1Y
Market cap
$618.27M
P/E
23.3x
Revenue (TTM)
$1.65B
Div. yield
–
Metal Fabrication Industrials
6 wins

Head to Head

10 decided of 12

Park Ohio Holdings leads on 6 of the 12 questions below (Park Ohio Holdings 6, Worthington Steel 3, Hongli 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionHLPWSPKOHLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $284.94M $2.10B $618.27M WS
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 137.6x -54.9x 23.3x PKOH
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 11.2x 13.0x WS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months — +69.1% +2.7% WS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — -0.7% 1.6% PKOH
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 0.2% 6.1% PKOH
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 19.9x 5.8x PKOH
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.02% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +149.3% +36.0% +117.3% HLP
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years — — +13.3%/yr –
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 118.6% 47.2% 44.5% PKOH
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 33/100 51/100 PKOH

Percentile Scorecard

HLPWSPKOH

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisHLPWSPKOH
Valuation 10 #183 of 203 59 #83 of 203 85 #31 of 203
Growth – 32 #128 of 188 75 #48 of 188
Profitability – 29 #130 of 183 40 #110 of 183
Financial Health 55 #99 of 217 10 #196 of 217 13 #190 of 217
Shareholder Returns – 34 #101 of 153 45 #85 of 153
Overall – 33 51
  • HLP ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • WS ranked among 222 companies in Machinery
  • PKOH ranked among 222 companies in Machinery

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodHLPWSPKOHSPY
1 month +64.7%+18.0%-7.4% -0.2%
3 months +184.4%+12.1%+13.6% +3.9%
6 months +343.9%+13.5%+50.7% +8.2%
Year to date +250.0%+23.5%+112.4% +12.9%
1 year +149.3%+36.0%+117.3% +12.3%
3 years +64.0%—+101.7% +87.4%
3 years, per year +17.9%—+26.4% +23.3%
5 years ——+86.3% +67.9%
5 years, per year ——+13.3% +10.9%
10 years ——+38.2% +261.1%
10 years, per year ——+3.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureHLPWSPKOHSPY
Volatility, 1Y 118.6%47.2%44.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 130.9%49.8%43.4% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.071.641.31 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.260.762.64 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -91.9%-51.5%-62.4% -25.4%
From 52-week high 0.0%-12.2%-15.3% -1.2%
52-week high $3.64$48.69$52.51 $779.14
52-week low $0.43$28.10$18.74 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleHLPWSPKOH
P/E now vs peer median 137.6xmedian 25.2x -55.8xmedian 25.2x 23.3xmedian 25.2x
P/S now vs peer median 13.6xmedian 1.9x 0.4xmedian 1.9x 0.4xmedian 1.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 14.0x 42.2xmedian 14.0x 11.9xmedian 14.0x
P/FCF now vs peer median -609.0xmedian 21.7x 46.9xmedian 21.7x 31.4xmedian 21.7x
P/B now vs peer median 4.6xmedian 2.3x 1.3xmedian 2.3x 1.6xmedian 2.3x
PEG now vs peer median —median 1.32 1.72median 1.32 0.37median 1.32

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsHLPWSPKOH
Revenue – $5.30B $1.65B
Gross profit – $549.30M $286.50M
Operating income – $6.30M $71.50M
Net income – -$56.50M $26.50M
Free cash flow – $46.70M $20.50M
EPS (diluted) – $-0.77 $1.87
Cash & equivalents $1.81M $248.20M $48.30M
Total debt $47.35M $2.20B $652.60M
Shares (diluted) 73.44M 50.00M 14.20M
Enterprise value $280.37M $1.59B $427.67M

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricHLPWSPKOH
P/E 137.6x -55.8x 23.3x
P/FCF -609.0x 46.9x 31.4x
P/Operating cash flow – 10.9x 9.6x
P/S 13.6x 0.4x 0.4x
P/B 4.6x 1.3x 1.6x
P/Tangible book 5.0x 1.4x 1.6x
EV/EBITDA – 42.2x 11.9x
EV/EBIT – 656.7x 17.5x
EV/Revenue – 0.8x 0.8x
EV/FCF – 88.6x 60.9x
EV/Operating cash flow – 20.5x 18.5x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) – 1.72 0.37

Growth

14 metrics
MetricHLPWSPKOH
Revenue growth (1Y) – 69.1% 2.7%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) – 15.5% 0.8%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – 36.2% 4.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – 13.4% 5.6%
Operating income growth (1Y) – -95.9% -7.1%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) – -65.2% 10.1%
Net income growth (1Y) – -144.9% -4.7%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – -34.5% 66.6%
EPS growth (1Y) – -132.7% -6.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) – -32.5% 62.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) – 18.9% 476.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -10.4% 93.5%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – 50.2% 187.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – -41.1% 46.1%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricHLPWSPKOH
Gross margin – 10.4% 17.3%
EBITDA margin – 1.8% 6.3%
Operating margin – 0.1% 4.3%
Pretax margin – -0.2% 1.6%
Net margin – -0.7% 1.6%
FCF margin – 0.9% 1.2%
Operating cash flow margin – 3.8% 4.1%
Return on equity – -4.0% 6.9%
Return on assets – -1.4% 1.8%
Return on invested capital – 0.2% 6.1%
Return on capital employed – 0.3% 6.6%
Asset turnover – 1.3x 1.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – -3.6x 2.5x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.2% 0.3%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricHLPWSPKOH
Debt / assets 16.0% 36.5% 44.4%
Debt / equity 0.2x 1.3x 1.7x
Net debt / EBITDA – 19.9x 5.8x
Debt / FCF – 47.0x 31.8x
Liabilities / assets 19.9% 72.8% 73.3%
Equity / assets 80.1% 27.2% 26.7%
Interest coverage – 0.5x 1.4x
Current ratio 1.1x 1.8x 2.4x
Quick ratio 0.8x 0.8x 1.1x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.1x 0.1x
Altman Z-score – 1.55 –

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricHLPWSPKOH
Dividend yield – 1.5% 1.1%
Net buyback yield – – –
Shareholder yield – 1.5% 1.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – -57.9% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 70.0% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – 2.2% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusHLPWSPKOH
Forward P/E – 11.2xFY2026 13.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year – $3.82FY2026 $3.41FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – +71.3%FY2026 +26.3%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after – +30.4% +13.2%
Revenue, next fiscal year – $10.90BFY2026 $1.78BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY – +217.0%FY2026 +11.5%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after – +2.4% +5.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersHLPWSPKOH
Held by institutions – 56.3% 55.8%
Institutions holding – 238 104
Change in shares held, QoQ – +1.2% +6.4%
Institutions buying – 112 58
Institutions selling – 68 27
Buyers to sellers – 1.65 2.15

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

HLPWSPKOH
HLP 1.00 0.07 -0.08
WS 0.07 1.00 0.34
PKOH -0.08 0.34 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, HLP, WS and PKOH?

Worthington Steel (WS) is the largest by market capitalisation: Hongli (HLP) $284.94M, Worthington Steel (WS) $2.10B, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) $618.27M.

Which stock is cheaper, HLP, WS and PKOH?

Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Hongli (HLP) 137.6x, Worthington Steel (WS) -54.9x, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) 23.3x). On next year's consensus earnings, Worthington Steel (WS) is cheapest (Worthington Steel (WS) 11.2x, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) 13.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Worthington Steel (WS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Worthington Steel (WS) +69.1%, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) +2.7%.

Which company is more profitable?

Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) has the highest net margin (Worthington Steel (WS) -0.7%, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) 1.6%). On return on invested capital, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) leads (Worthington Steel (WS) 0.2%, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) 6.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Hongli (HLP) returned the most: Hongli (HLP) +149.3%, Worthington Steel (WS) +36.0%, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) +117.3%. Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Hongli (HLP) 0.00%, Worthington Steel (WS) 0.02%, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) 0.00%. Hongli (HLP) and Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) has been the steadiest (Hongli (HLP) 118.6%, Worthington Steel (WS) 47.2%, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) 44.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, HLP, WS and PKOH?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Park Ohio Holdings (PKOH) leads on 6. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.