Steel Dynamics (STLD) Competitors

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) and Steel Dynamics (NASDAQ:STLD) are both large-cap basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their earnings, community ranking, media sentiment, valuation, profitability, risk, analyst recommendations, dividends and institutional ownership.

Does the MarketBeat Community believe in NUE or STLD?

Steel Dynamics received 149 more outperform votes than Nucor when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.28% of users gave Steel Dynamics an outperform vote while only 64.32% of users gave Nucor an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Nucor	Outperform Votes 694 64.32%	Underperform Votes 385 35.68%
Steel Dynamics	Outperform Votes 843 67.28%	Underperform Votes 410 32.72%

Do insiders and institutionals hold more shares of NUE or STLD?

76.5% of Nucor shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.4% of Steel Dynamics shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Nucor shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 6.3% of Steel Dynamics shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Is NUE or STLD more profitable?

Steel Dynamics has a net margin of 8.76% compared to Nucor's net margin of 6.60%. Steel Dynamics' return on equity of 17.32% beat Nucor's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nucor	6.60%	9.85%	6.25%
Steel Dynamics	8.76%	17.32%	10.13%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, NUE or STLD?

Nucor has higher revenue and earnings than Steel Dynamics. Steel Dynamics is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nucor, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nucor	$30.73B	0.96	$2.03B	$8.41	15.17
Steel Dynamics	$17.54B	1.09	$1.54B	$9.80	13.06

Do analysts recommend NUE or STLD?

Nucor currently has a consensus price target of $164.78, suggesting a potential upside of 29.16%. Steel Dynamics has a consensus price target of $148.56, suggesting a potential upside of 16.07%. Given Nucor's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Nucor is more favorable than Steel Dynamics.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nucor	0 Sell rating(s)	2 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.89
Steel Dynamics	0 Sell rating(s)	4 Hold rating(s)	7 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.64

Which has more volatility & risk, NUE or STLD?

Nucor has a beta of 1.58, meaning that its share price is 58% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Steel Dynamics has a beta of 1.34, meaning that its share price is 34% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Does the media prefer NUE or STLD?

In the previous week, Steel Dynamics had 7 more articles in the media than Nucor. MarketBeat recorded 37 mentions for Steel Dynamics and 30 mentions for Nucor. Steel Dynamics' average media sentiment score of 1.14 beat Nucor's score of 0.89 indicating that Steel Dynamics is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Nucor	18 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Steel Dynamics	18 Very Positive mention(s)	8 Positive mention(s)	2 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NUE or STLD a better dividend stock?

Nucor pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. Steel Dynamics pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Nucor pays out 26.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Steel Dynamics pays out 20.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Nucor has increased its dividend for 52 consecutive years and Steel Dynamics has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Nucor is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Steel Dynamics beats Nucor on 13 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.