Ronnie Moas Downgrades Nucor To Hold: Here's Why

Ronnie Moas of Standpoint Research cut the rating of Nucor Corporation 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.