Analyzing Metallus (NYSE:MTUS) and Nucor (NYSE:NUE)

Metallus (NYSE:MTUS) and Nucor (NYSE:NUE) are both basic materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their risk, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, dividends and valuation.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Metallus and Nucor, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Metallus	0	0	0	0	N/A
Nucor	0	5	3	0	2.38

Nucor has a consensus price target of $192.75, indicating a potential upside of 12.37%. Given Nucor’s higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Nucor is more favorable than Metallus.

Risk & Volatility

Metallus has a beta of 1.55, suggesting that its share price is 55% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Nucor has a beta of 1.65, suggesting that its share price is 65% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Metallus and Nucor’s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Metallus	$1.36 billion	0.75	$69.40 million	$1.68	13.89
Nucor	$34.71 billion	1.18	$4.52 billion	$17.00	10.09

Nucor has higher revenue and earnings than Metallus. Nucor is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Metallus, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

77.6% of Metallus shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 76.5% of Nucor shares are held by institutional investors. 3.7% of Metallus shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.5% of Nucor shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

This table compares Metallus and Nucor’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Metallus	5.81%	13.06%	8.19%
Nucor	12.40%	19.62%	12.37%

Summary

Nucor beats Metallus on 10 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Metallus

Metallus Inc. manufactures and sells alloy steel, and carbon and micro-alloy steel products in the United States and internationally. The company offers special bar quality (SBQ) bars, seamless mechanical tubes, precision steel components, and billets that are used in gears, hubs, axles, crankshafts and motor shafts, oil country drill pipes, bits and collars, bearing races and rolling elements, bushings, fuel injectors, wind energy shafts, anti-friction bearings, artillery and mortar bodies, and other applications. It also provides custom-make precision steel components. It offers its products and services to the automotive, energy, industrial equipment, mining, construction, rail, aerospace and defense, heavy truck, agriculture, and power generation sectors. The company was formerly known as TimkenSteel Corporation and changed its name to Metallus Inc. in February 2024. Metallus Inc. was founded in 1899 and is headquartered in Canton, Ohio.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation engages in manufacture and sale of steel and steel products. It operates in three segments: steel mills, steel products, and raw materials. The Steel Mills segment produces hot-rolled, cold-rolled, and galvanized sheet steel products; plate steel products; wide-flange beams, beam blanks, and H-piling and sheet piling structural steel products; bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and engineered special bar quality products; and engages in the steel trading and rebar distribution businesses. This segment sells its products to steel service centers, fabricators, and manufacturers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The Steel Products segment offers steel joists and joist girders, steel decks, and galvanized torque tubes for used in solar arrays, hollow structural section steel tubing, electrical conduit, fabricated concrete reinforcing steel, cold finished steel, steel fasteners, steel grating and expanded metal, wire and wire mesh, metal building systems, insulated metal panels, steel racking, overhead doors, and utility towers and structures for communications and energy transmission. This segment is also involved in the piling distribution business. The Raw Materials segment produces direct reduced iron (DRI); brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron, hot briquetted iron, and DRI; supplies ferro-alloys; processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal; and engages in the natural gas production and industrial gas business. This segment sells its ferrous scrap to electric arc furnace steel mills and foundries for manufacturing process; and nonferrous scrap metal to aluminum can producers, secondary aluminum smelters, steel mills and other processors, and consumers of various nonferrous metals. It markets its products through in-house sales force; and internal distribution and trading companies. Nucor Corporation was founded in 1905 and is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina.