DPM Metals (OTCMKTS:DPMLF) versus Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Head-To-Head Comparison

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) and DPM Metals (OTCMKTS:DPMLF) are both materials companies, but which is the better business? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their institutional ownership, profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, valuation, risk and dividends.

Profitability

This table compares Nucor and DPM Metals’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Nucor	7.99%	12.73%	8.03%
DPM Metals	50.26%	25.66%	21.67%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Nucor and DPM Metals”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Nucor	$32.49 billion	1.68	$1.74 billion	$12.54	19.16
DPM Metals	$950.48 million	8.94	$369.23 million	$3.04	12.74

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

Risk and Volatility

Nucor has a beta of 1.84, suggesting that its stock price is 84% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, DPM Metals has a beta of 0.7, suggesting that its stock price is 30% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Nucor and DPM Metals, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Nucor	0	4	13	0	2.76
DPM Metals	0	2	3	0	2.60

Nucor presently has a consensus price target of $276.07, suggesting a potential upside of 14.88%. Given Nucor’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Nucor is more favorable than DPM Metals.

Dividends

Nucor pays an annual dividend of $2.24 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.9%. DPM Metals pays an annual dividend of $0.16 per share and has a dividend yield of 0.4%. Nucor pays out 17.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. DPM Metals pays out 5.3% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Nucor has increased its dividend for 52 consecutive years. Nucor is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

76.5% of Nucor shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.6% of Nucor shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.3% of DPM Metals shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Nucor beats DPM Metals on 12 of the 17 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 DPM Metals

Dundee Precious Metals Inc., a gold mining company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, mining, and processing of precious metals. The company primarily explores for gold, copper, and silver deposits. It holds a portfolio of projects located in Bulgaria, Namibia, Serbia, and Ecuador. The company is based in Toronto, Canada.