Reliance (RS) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility and risk, RS or NUE?

Reliance has a beta of 0.87, meaning that its share price is 13% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nucor has a beta of 1.55, meaning that its share price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Is RS or NUE more profitable?

Nucor has a net margin of 8.05% compared to Reliance's net margin of 7.42%. Reliance's return on equity of 13.68% beat Nucor's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Reliance	7.42%	13.68%	10.00%
Nucor	8.05%	12.06%	7.63%

Does the media prefer RS or NUE?

In the previous week, Nucor had 10 more articles in the media than Reliance. MarketBeat recorded 36 mentions for Nucor and 26 mentions for Reliance. Reliance's average media sentiment score of 0.38 beat Nucor's score of 0.03 indicating that Reliance is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Reliance	7 Very Positive mention(s)	7 Positive mention(s)	7 Neutral mention(s)	4 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Nucor	9 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	9 Neutral mention(s)	6 Negative mention(s)	1 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral

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

79.3% of Reliance shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.5% of Nucor shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.7% of Reliance shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Nucor shares are owned by company 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 RS or NUE a better dividend stock?

Reliance pays an annual dividend of $4.40 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Nucor pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.9%. Reliance pays out 24.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nucor pays out 21.3% 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. Reliance has increased its dividend for 14 consecutive years and Nucor has increased its dividend for 51 consecutive years. Nucor is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer RS or NUE?

Nucor received 209 more outperform votes than Reliance when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.82% of users gave Reliance an outperform vote while only 64.42% of users gave Nucor an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Reliance	Outperform Votes 479 64.82%	Underperform Votes 260 35.18%
Nucor	Outperform Votes 688 64.42%	Underperform Votes 380 35.58%

Which has stronger earnings and valuation, RS or NUE?

Nucor has higher revenue and earnings than Reliance. Nucor is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Reliance, 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
Reliance	$14.05B	1.04	$1.34B	$18.21	14.77
Nucor	$31.36B	0.87	$4.52B	$10.35	11.26

Do analysts rate RS or NUE?

Reliance currently has a consensus price target of $328.83, indicating a potential upside of 22.23%. Nucor has a consensus price target of $173.75, indicating a potential upside of 49.04%. Given Nucor's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Nucor is more favorable than Reliance.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Reliance	1 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.17
Nucor	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.78

Summary

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