Nucor (NYSE:NUE – Get Free Report) and Sigma Lithium (NASDAQ:SGML – Get Free Report) are both materials companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends and analyst recommendations.
Volatility & Risk
Nucor has a beta of 1.87, suggesting that its share price is 87% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Sigma Lithium has a beta of 0.64, suggesting that its share price is 36% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Insider and Institutional Ownership
76.5% of Nucor shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 64.9% of Sigma Lithium shares are held by institutional investors. 0.6% of Nucor shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 48.6% of Sigma Lithium shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.
Profitability
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Nucor | 7.99% | 12.73% | 8.03% |
| Sigma Lithium | -19.36% | -37.40% | -7.66% |
Analyst Recommendations
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Nucor and Sigma Lithium, as reported by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Nucor | 0 | 4 | 13 | 0 | 2.76 |
| Sigma Lithium | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2.14 |
Nucor currently has a consensus target price of $274.79, suggesting a potential upside of 12.42%. Sigma Lithium has a consensus target price of $17.38, suggesting a potential upside of 69.10%. Given Sigma Lithium’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Sigma Lithium is more favorable than Nucor.
Valuation and Earnings
This table compares Nucor and Sigma Lithium”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Nucor | $36.10 billion | 1.54 | $1.74 billion | $12.54 | 19.49 |
| Sigma Lithium | $142.49 million | 8.12 | -$50.19 million | ($0.24) | -42.81 |
Nucor has higher revenue and earnings than Sigma Lithium. Sigma Lithium is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Nucor, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Nucor beats Sigma Lithium on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.
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.
About Sigma Lithium
Sigma Lithium Corporation engages in the exploration and development of lithium deposits in Brazil. It holds a 100% interest in the Grota do Cirilo, Genipapo, Santa Clara, and São José properties comprising 29 mineral rights covering an area of approximately 185 square kilometers located in the Araçuaí and Itinga regions of the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. It serves electric vehicle industries worldwide. The company was formerly known as Sigma Lithium Resources Corporation and changed its name to Sigma Lithium Corporation in July 2021. The company is headquartered in São Paulo, Brazil.
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