Nucor Is a 'Pounding-the-Table' Buy Here, Jim Cramer Says
Jim Cramer says U.S. steel giant Nucor Corp. (NUE) - Get Report is a "pounding-the-table" buy at current prices.
"This is the only steel company that is [worth buying], people," Cramer said during an exclusive monthly conference call with members of his Action Alerts PLUS club for investors. "It's down 9% for the year? That's highly unusual."
Cramer -- who recently established a Nucor position for his charitable trust -- said he had long wanted to buy the stock, but waited for a rally the began with Donald Trump's election last November to reverse. Nucor rose from a $46.55 intraday low a few weeks before the election to as high as $68 in the weeks afterward on speculation that Trump's talk of trade protectionism and U.S. infrastructure spending would boost domestic steelmakers.
However, the stock has been mostly falling since then, closing at $54.27 on Monday. Cramer said Nucor has fallen out of favor as hopes for Trump-induced infrastructure spending and protectionism faded -- particularly after the president recently dumped economic-nationalist adviser Steve Bannon. "When Bannon got fired and we didn't get infrastructure, the stock got hammered," Cramer said.
But the stockpicker said he appreciates the stock's 2.8% dividend yield, and has liked NUE ever since meeting late legendary Nucor chief Kenneth Iverson back in the 1980s. Cramer also had high praise for current Nucor CEO John Ferriola.
"John Ferriola is doing a pretty good job, and I know John pretty well," Cramer said. "I'm 'pounding the table' Nucor right here."
(This story has been updated.)
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, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, is long NUE.
