Nucor (NUE) Competitors

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

Is NUE or STLD a better dividend stock?

Nucor pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Steel Dynamics pays an annual dividend of $1.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Nucor pays out 21.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Steel Dynamics pays out 16.7% 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 12 consecutive years. Nucor is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Which has more risk & volatility, NUE or STLD?

Nucor has a beta of 1.6, meaning that its share price is 60% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Steel Dynamics has a beta of 1.36, meaning that its share price is 36% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do analysts rate NUE or STLD?

Nucor currently has a consensus price target of $163.63, indicating a potential upside of 31.53%. Steel Dynamics has a consensus price target of $140.88, indicating a potential upside of 11.96%. Given Nucor's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities 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)	3 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78
Steel Dynamics	0 Sell rating(s)	6 Hold rating(s)	3 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.33

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NUE or STLD?

Steel Dynamics received 150 more outperform votes than Nucor when rated by MarketBeat users. Likewise, 67.61% of users gave Steel Dynamics an outperform vote while only 64.39% of users gave Nucor an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Nucor	Outperform Votes 689 64.39%	Underperform Votes 381 35.61%
Steel Dynamics	Outperform Votes 839 67.61%	Underperform Votes 402 32.39%

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

76.5% of Nucor shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 82.4% of Steel Dynamics shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Nucor shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 6.1% of Steel Dynamics shares are held 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.

Which has better 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	$34.71B	0.84	$4.52B	$10.35	12.02
Steel Dynamics	$18.80B	1.02	$2.45B	$11.05	11.39

Does the media refer more to NUE or STLD?

In the previous week, Nucor had 15 more articles in the media than Steel Dynamics. MarketBeat recorded 35 mentions for Nucor and 20 mentions for Steel Dynamics. Nucor's average media sentiment score of 0.90 beat Steel Dynamics' score of 0.88 indicating that Nucor is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Nucor	19 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	10 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Steel Dynamics	13 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Is NUE or STLD more profitable?

Steel Dynamics has a net margin of 9.80% compared to Nucor's net margin of 8.05%. Steel Dynamics' return on equity of 19.82% beat Nucor's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nucor	8.05%	12.06%	7.63%
Steel Dynamics	9.80%	19.82%	11.57%

Summary

Nucor beats Steel Dynamics on 12 of the 22 factors compared between the two stocks.