Nucor (NUE) Competitors

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

Do analysts rate NUE or STLD?

Nucor presently has a consensus target price of $162.11, indicating a potential upside of 44.41%. Steel Dynamics has a consensus target price of $149.67, indicating a potential upside of 24.59%. Given Nucor's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, 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)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73

Which has higher 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	0.84	$2.03B	$8.41	13.35
Steel Dynamics	$17.54B	1.03	$1.54B	$9.80	12.26

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NUE or STLD?

Steel Dynamics received 149 more outperform votes than Nucor when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.30% of users gave Steel Dynamics an outperform vote while only 64.23% of users gave Nucor an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Nucor	Outperform Votes 695 64.23%	Underperform Votes 387 35.77%
Steel Dynamics	Outperform Votes 844 67.30%	Underperform Votes 410 32.70%

Is NUE or STLD a better dividend stock?

Nucor pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.0%. Steel Dynamics pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.7%. 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 raised its dividend for 52 consecutive years and Steel Dynamics has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years. Nucor is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk and volatility, NUE or STLD?

Nucor has a beta of 1.67, indicating that its share price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Steel Dynamics has a beta of 1.35, indicating that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders 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 large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the media refer more to NUE or STLD?

In the previous week, Steel Dynamics had 5 more articles in the media than Nucor. MarketBeat recorded 27 mentions for Steel Dynamics and 22 mentions for Nucor. Steel Dynamics' average media sentiment score of 1.45 beat Nucor's score of 0.99 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	13 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	4 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Steel Dynamics	19 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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%

Summary

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