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Ready to try your hand at steel stocks? Look no further than Nucor — or should you? Let's take a look.

When you're on the hunt for a stock that pays dividends, you may want to take a look at Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE).

Let's dive into some details about Nucor Corporation and the pros and cons of the company and its sector to help you determine whether to purchase Nucor Corporation for your own portfolio.

Nucor Corporation, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, manufactures and sells steel and steel products, including the following:

The company processes ferrous and nonferrous scrap metal and undergoes gas drilling operations and also produces direct reduced iron (DRI), ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron and hot briquetted iron. The company also sells ferrous scrap to electric arc furnace steel mills and foundries for manufacturing process and nonferrous scrap metal to aluminum can producers and other processors.

In 1905, Ransom Olds, creator of the Oldsmobile, formed REO Motor Company which eventually became Nucor Corporation. In 1962, the company acquired Vulcraft, which produced steel joists and girders. The company's first mini mill went into production in Darlington, South Carolina. In 1973, Nucor offered a five-cent cash dividend per share of the company's common stock.

In 1979, the company entered the cold-finish market in Norfolk, Nebraska and in 1989, thin-slab technology began at a new mini mill in Crawfordsville, Indiana. As technology continued to advance, Castrip technology also developed in 2002. The company acquired Fort Howard Steel, and Marion Steel in 2005 as well as the David J. Joseph Company in 2008.

The board of directors approved the repurchase of up to $3 billion of Nucor's outstanding common stock, which replaced the $2 billion repurchase program under which approximately $1.55 billion of the company's common stock had been repurchased since 2018. In other words, this means a company buys back its own shares from the marketplace in order to boost the value of a stock, typically doing so when the stock market is on an upswing.

In Q2 2022, Nucor Corporation recorded net earnings of $2.56 billion, or $9.67 per diluted share. Nucor reported consolidated net earnings of $2.10 billion, or $7.67 per diluted share, in comparison during the first quarter of 2022. It also increased from $1.51 billion, or $5.04 per diluted share, in the second quarter of 2021.

Nucor reported consolidated net earnings of $4.66 billion in the first six months of 2022, compared with the first six months' consolidated net earnings of $2.45 billion in 2021.

Let's take a look at both the pros and cons of purchasing Nucor stock. Why might this stock be a welcome addition to your portfolio and why might you consider the other side of the coin as well and look in a different direction?

Nucor reports ongoing good dividend news. It continues to increase its base dividend and the repurchase program wasn't accidental, even though it occurred last year. However, it's really important to remember that the steel industry's success is heavily intertwined with how the economy does. Nucor's continued profitability in its segment can only do well as long as there is high demand in nonresidential construction markets and other segments of the market.

It's best to consider your overall portfolio and how Nucor can fit into it. Will it help your personal short- and long-term goals?

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