Reliance (RS) Competitors

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) and Reliance (NYSE:RS) 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 dividends, community ranking, risk, earnings, institutional ownership, media sentiment, profitability, valuation and analyst recommendations.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, NUE or RS?

Nucor has higher revenue and earnings than Reliance. Reliance 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	$30.43B	0.93	$2.03B	$5.62	21.87
Reliance	$13.67B	1.15	$1.34B	$13.95	21.29

Does the media favor NUE or RS?

In the previous week, Reliance had 15 more articles in the media than Nucor. MarketBeat recorded 56 mentions for Reliance and 41 mentions for Nucor. Nucor's average media sentiment score of 0.82 beat Reliance's score of 0.67 indicating that Nucor is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Nucor	23 Very Positive mention(s)	1 Positive mention(s)	8 Neutral mention(s)	2 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive
Reliance	25 Very Positive mention(s)	12 Positive mention(s)	14 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Does the MarketBeat Community prefer NUE or RS?

Nucor received 215 more outperform votes than Reliance when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 64.82% of users gave Reliance an outperform vote while only 64.15% of users gave Nucor an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Nucor	Outperform Votes 696 64.15%	Underperform Votes 389 35.85%
Reliance	Outperform Votes 481 64.82%	Underperform Votes 261 35.18%

Is NUE or RS a better dividend stock?

Nucor pays an annual dividend of $2.20 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.8%. Reliance pays an annual dividend of $4.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.6%. Nucor pays out 39.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Reliance pays out 34.4% 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 Reliance has raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years. Nucor is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

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

76.5% of Nucor shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 79.3% of Reliance shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.5% of Nucor shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.4% of Reliance shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Is NUE or RS more profitable?

Nucor has a net margin of 6.60% compared to Reliance's net margin of 6.33%. Reliance's return on equity of 11.87% beat Nucor's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nucor	6.60%	9.85%	6.25%
Reliance	6.33%	11.87%	8.63%

Do analysts rate NUE or RS?

Nucor currently has a consensus target price of $160.33, indicating a potential upside of 30.44%. Reliance has a consensus target price of $319.00, indicating a potential upside of 7.41%. Given Nucor's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, equities research analysts plainly believe Nucor is more favorable than Reliance.

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
Reliance	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	2 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.40

Which has more volatility & risk, NUE or RS?

Nucor has a beta of 1.67, meaning that its stock price is 67% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Reliance has a beta of 0.83, meaning that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

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