Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Here's Why You Should Add Nucor (NUE) Stock to Your Portfolio

Read MoreHide Full Article

Nucor Corporation’s (NUE - Free Report) stock looks promising at the moment. We are positive on the company’s prospects and believe that the time is right for you to add the stock to portfolio as it looks promising and is poised to carry the momentum ahead.

Let’s take a look into the factors that make this steel maker an intriguing choice for investors right now.

What Makes NUE an Attractive Pick?

Solid Rank & VGM Score: Nucor currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) and a VGM Score of A. Our research shows that stocks with a VGM Score of A or B, combined with a Zacks Rank #1 or #2 (Buy), offer the best investment opportunities for investors. Thus, the company appears to be a compelling investment proposition at the moment.

An Outperformer: Nucor has outperformed the industry over a year. The company’s shares have popped around 16.2% over this period, compared with roughly 4.5% growth recorded by the industry.



 

Solid Growth Prospects: The Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings for 2018 for Nucor is currently pegged at $7.84, reflecting an expected year-over-year growth of 123.4%. Moreover, earnings are expected to register a 198.7% growth in third-quarter 2018. The company also has an expected long-term earnings per share growth rate of 12%, higher than the industry average of 10.1%.

Superior Return on Equity (ROE): Nucor’s ROE of 16.2%, as compared with the industry average of 13.8%, manifests the company’s efficiency in utilizing shareholder’s funds.

Buoyant Outlook: Nucor recently provided an upbeat guidance for third-quarter 2018. The company expects earnings per share in the band of $2.35-$2.40 for the quarter. That is an increase from $2.13 in the previous quarter and 79 cents in the year-ago quarter. The projected earnings for the third quarter include an expected benefit of roughly $25 million or 6 cents, associated with insurance-related recoveries.

The company expects earnings in the third quarter to maintain the strong performance trend this year as it believes that there is sustainable strength in steel end-use markets. It also expects performance of its steel mills division to increase sequentially in the third quarter, primarily owing to higher earnings in the sheet mills and plate mills, which offset the impact of weather-related and planned outages at some mills.

Nucor is seeing continued momentum in the automotive market. The company has entered into a joint venture with JFE Steel Corporation of Japan to build and operate a plant in Mexico that will supply sheet steel to the country’s growing automotive market.

The company also remains committed to expand its production capabilities. It has invested around $230 million to add an additional cold mill in Arkansas. Nucor is also investing $240 million in a new galvanizing line at its sheet mill in Arkansas that will have an annual capacity of around 500,000 tons.

Nucor’s board has also recently approved a $650-million investment for expansion of the production capability of its flat-rolled sheet steel mill, Nucor Steel Gallatin, in Kentucky. The move will enhance the production capability of the plant to roughly 3,000,000 tons from 1,600,000 tons annually.

This expansion complements the $176-million investment to build a hot band continuous pickle galvanizing line at Nucor Steel Gallatin, which will produce roughly 500,000 tons of galvanized hot band steel per year. Nucor continues to evaluate additional expansion projects as part of its actions to further grow its sheet business.

Nucor Corporation Price and Consensus

 

Nucor Corporation Price and Consensus | Nucor Corporation Quote

Other Stocks to Consider

Other top-ranked stocks worth considering in the basic materials space include Celanese Corporation (CE - Free Report) , Ingevity Corporation (NGVT - Free Report) and Air Products and Chemicals, Inc. (APD - Free Report) .

Celanese has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 10% and a Zacks Rank #1. The company’s shares have gained around 11% in a year. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Ingevity has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 12% and a Zacks Rank #1. The company’s shares have rallied around 69% in a year.

Air Products has an expected long-term earnings growth rate of 16.2% and carries a Zacks Rank #2. Its shares have gained roughly 12% over a year.

5 Companies Verge on Apple-Like Run

Did you miss Apple's 9X stock explosion after they launched their iPhone in 2007? Now 2018 looks to be a pivotal year to get in on another emerging technology expected to rock the market. Demand could soar from almost nothing to $42 billion by 2025. Reports suggest it could save 10 million lives per decade which could in turn save $200 billion in U.S. healthcare costs. A bonus Zacks Special Report names this breakthrough and the 5 best stocks to exploit it. Like Apple in 2007, these companies are already strong and coiling for potential mega-gains.

Click to see them right now >>
 

Published in