Nucor (NUE) closed at $144.02 in the latest trading session, marking a -2.2% move from the prior day. The stock fell short of the S&P 500, which registered a gain of 0.21% for the day. Elsewhere, the Dow saw an upswing of 0.25%, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq appreciated by 0.45%.
Heading into today, shares of the steel company had gained 5.96% over the past month, lagging the Basic Materials sector's gain of 7.19% and outpacing the S&P 500's gain of 3.07%.
Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Nucor in its upcoming release. The company's earnings per share (EPS) are projected to be $2.49, reflecting a 67.11% increase from the same quarter last year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $8.36 billion, up 12.28% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $8.25 per share and revenue of $32.39 billion. These totals would mark changes of -7.3% and +5.4%, respectively, from last year.
Additionally, investors should keep an eye on any recent revisions to analyst forecasts for Nucor. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the business health and profitability.
Our research reveals that these estimate alterations are directly linked with the stock price performance in the near future. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system, stretching from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has a noteworthy track record of outperforming, validated by third-party audits, with stocks rated #1 producing an average annual return of +25% since the year 1988. Over the past month, there's been a 0.21% rise in the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate. Nucor currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Digging into valuation, Nucor currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 17.84. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry average Forward P/E of 12.78.
Investors should also note that NUE has a PEG ratio of 0.94 right now. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. As of the close of trade yesterday, the Steel - Producers industry held an average PEG ratio of 0.77.
The Steel - Producers industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This industry, currently bearing a Zacks Industry Rank of 205, finds itself in the bottom 18% echelons of all 250+ industries.
The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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Nucor Corporation (NUE): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).
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