Nucor (NUE) Competitors

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

Which has more volatility and risk, STLD or NUE?

Steel Dynamics has a beta of 1.37, indicating that its stock price is 37% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nucor has a beta of 1.7, indicating that its stock price is 70% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Which has higher valuation and earnings, STLD or NUE?

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
Steel Dynamics	$17.54B	1.14	$1.54B	$7.57	17.84
Nucor	$30.73B	1.07	$2.03B	$5.62	25.34

Is STLD or NUE more profitable?

Steel Dynamics has a net margin of 6.80% compared to Nucor's net margin of 4.40%. Steel Dynamics' return on equity of 13.26% beat Nucor's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Steel Dynamics	6.80%	13.26%	7.60%
Nucor	4.40%	6.82%	4.27%

Is STLD or NUE a better dividend stock?

Steel Dynamics pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Nucor pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.5%. Steel Dynamics pays out 26.4% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Nucor pays out 39.1% 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. Steel Dynamics has raised its dividend for 13 consecutive years and Nucor has raised its dividend for 52 consecutive years. Nucor is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Do analysts recommend STLD or NUE?

Steel Dynamics presently has a consensus price target of $148.00, indicating a potential upside of 9.57%. Nucor has a consensus price target of $150.00, indicating a potential upside of 5.31%. Given Steel Dynamics' higher possible upside, research analysts clearly believe Steel Dynamics is more favorable than Nucor.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Steel Dynamics	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	8 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.73
Nucor	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	6 Buy rating(s)	1 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Does the media prefer STLD or NUE?

In the previous week, Nucor had 14 more articles in the media than Steel Dynamics. MarketBeat recorded 25 mentions for Nucor and 11 mentions for Steel Dynamics. Steel Dynamics' average media sentiment score of 1.57 beat Nucor's score of 1.30 indicating that Steel Dynamics is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Steel Dynamics	8 Very Positive mention(s)	2 Positive mention(s)	0 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Very Positive
Nucor	16 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	5 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

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

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

Summary

Steel Dynamics beats Nucor on 11 of the 20 factors compared between the two stocks.