One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$27.67 our estimate vs market $15.15
45% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Klöckner & Co SE
KLKNF · PNK · Basic Materials · Steel
Current price
$15.15
52-week range
$6.10 - $15.15
Market cap
$1.51B
Balance sheet
Distressed
0.67x Concerning
Net debt $1.23B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
1 Reward
3 Risks
1 rewards · 3 risks
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 3/10 years.
- Risk Net debt grew 70.9% over 3 years.
- Risk Return on equity was -21.1% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
- Risk Operating margin compressed from 3.0% to -9.0% over 3 years.
What this company does
Klöckner & Co SE
Klöckner & Co SE is a company that mainly sells steel and metal products to other businesses, with most of its money coming from selling these materials in Europe and the Americas. This is important because the demand for steel and metal products often reflects the health of industries like construction and manufacturing. Klöckner & Co also offers services like cutting and shaping metal, and managing its delivery and storage.
How the company got here
Klöckner & Co SE was founded in 1906 by Peter Klöckner as a trading company focused on iron and steel. Initially, it operated as a general partnership and began expanding its reach by opening branches in various German cities and eventually internationally. Over the decades, the company diversified into various sectors, including scrap metal, chemicals, energy, and textiles, before strategically refocusing on its core business of steel and metal distribution. A significant turning point was its listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 2006, marking its transition into a publicly traded entity. More recently, Klöckner & Co has been integrating digital technologies and expanding its offering of sustainable products, such as CO2-reduced steel, under its Nexigen® brand. In 2026, Worthington Steel announced its intention to acquire Klöckner & Co, aiming to further consolidate its position in the market.
What it actually does
Klöckner & Co SE is a major distributor and processor of steel and metal products. Think of them as a crucial link between the companies that make steel and the businesses that use it. They don't just sell raw metal; they also offer services like cutting, shaping, and preparing metal to customer specifications. This means they handle everything from sourcing the materials to delivering them, often providing customized solutions for a wide range of industries.
Kloeckner Metals Americas
This segment of Klöckner & Co operates in North America, serving a broad customer base with a variety of steel and metal products. It includes carbon flat-roll steel, electrical steel, aluminum, and stainless steel. The company provides processing services such as cutting, shaping, and surface treatments to meet specific customer needs across industries like construction, transportation, and machinery manufacturing. This division represents a significant portion of the company's overall business, contributing substantially to its revenue.
Kloeckner Metals Europe
This part of Klöckner & Co focuses on the European market, distributing and processing steel and metal products. Similar to its American counterpart, it offers a wide array of materials, including flat and long steel products, tubes, and stainless steel. The segment also provides value-added services like cutting, forming, and laser processing. Kloeckner Metals Europe is a key revenue generator for the company, reflecting the strong demand for metal products in various European industrial sectors.
What management is betting on now
Klöckner & Co's current strategy, "Leveraging Strengths – Step Up 2030," centers on becoming a leading metal processor and service center company in North America and Europe by 2030. A key focus is customer centricity, ensuring products and services are aligned with customer needs to build strong partnerships. The company is also prioritizing the expansion of its higher value-added services and its sustainable product portfolio, particularly CO2-reduced steel under the Nexigen® brand, to drive profitability and reduce reliance on volatile steel prices.
Price history
How the share price has moved
—
Loading price history…
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $27.67 vs current price $15.15
Our most-likely fair value is $27.67 a share — about 82.6% above today's price of $15.15, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Distressed
Net debt $1.2B. Interest coverage 0.7x.
Net debt
$1.23B
Interest coverage
0.67x
Klöckner & Co SE's profit covers its interest bill about 0.7 times over. which is weaker than most peers shown here.
Distressed
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
KLKNF
BASELINE
Klöckner & Co SE
Total debt $1.33B Interest coverage 0.67x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $2.59B Interest coverage 3.73x +453% vs KLKNF Carries about 5.5x more debt cushion than KLKNF.
Total debt $343.16M Interest coverage 9.53x +1,312% vs KLKNF Carries about 14.1x more debt cushion than KLKNF.
Total debt $101.32M Interest coverage 6.25x +826% vs KLKNF Carries about 9.3x more debt cushion than KLKNF.
What you should know
The case for and against KLKNF
1 Reward
3 Risks
Rewards
-
Free cash flow was positive in 3/10 years.
Risks
-
Net debt grew 70.9% over 3 years.
-
Return on equity was -21.1% last year — the company lost money on shareholders' equity.
-
Operating margin compressed from 3.0% to -9.0% over 3 years.
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
—
Forward P/E
28.06x
P/B
1.02x
P/S
0.24x
EV/EBITDA
27.22x
PEG ratio
—
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
17.5%
Operating margin
-9.0%
Net margin
-4.7%
ROE
-21.1%
ROA
0.4%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.90x
Current ratio
2.15x
Quick ratio
0.91x
Total debt
$1.33B
Total cash
$104.80M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$7.05B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
-8.5%
EPS TTM
-3.52
EPS 5Y CAGR
—
Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$121.89M
Free CF TTM
$-2.69M
FCF margin
-0.0%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
—
Last ex-div date
2026-05-21