Nucor (NUE) Declines More Than Market: Some Information for Investors

In the latest close session, Nucor (NUE) was down 1.76% at $177.40. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.94%. Elsewhere, the Dow saw a downswing of 0.83%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq depreciated by 1.02%.

Coming into today, shares of the steel company had lost 0.22% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector gained 12.9%, while the S&P 500 lost 1.3%.

The investment community will be closely monitoring the performance of Nucor in its forthcoming earnings report. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $2.87, signifying a 272.73% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Simultaneously, our latest consensus estimate expects the revenue to be $8.71 billion, showing a 11.3% escalation compared to the year-ago quarter.

Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $11.72 per share and revenue of $35.09 billion. These totals would mark changes of +52.01% and +8%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Nucor should also be noted by investors. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the business outlook.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.15% higher. Nucor is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Nucor has a Forward P/E ratio of 15.41 right now. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 13.27.

Investors should also note that NUE has a PEG ratio of 0.65 right now. The PEG ratio is akin to the commonly utilized P/E ratio, but this measure also incorporates the company's anticipated earnings growth rate. The Steel - Producers was holding an average PEG ratio of 0.54 at yesterday's closing price.

The Steel - Producers industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 143, placing it within the bottom 42% of over 250 industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank is ordered from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

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