Ronnie Moas Downgrades Nucor To Hold: Here's Why

Ronnie Moas of Standpoint Research cut the rating of Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) to Hold from Buy on valuation.

Moas said since his recommendation on March 2, the stock surged 19 percent and outperformed the benchmark S&P 500 index by 1400 basis points.

The stock is trading at the $49 level, about $3 less than Moas' $52 price target and nearing the 52-week high of $50.70.

"I can no longer leave my highest recommendation attached to this name given the recent absolute and relative move. I remain with open recommendations on two other steel names SID (Brazil) up 16% today and PKX (Korea)," Moas wrote in a note.

"NUE is now trading @ 19X speculative estimates for next year with a 3% dividend yield," the analyst added.

According to TipRanks, Moas has a success rate of 68 percent with an average return per recommendation of +4.8 percent. The analyst is having a five-star rating and is ranked 61 out of 3,863 analysts.

Shares of Nucor were up 2 percent to $49.09. The stock has gained about 22 percent this year.