Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Announces Earnings Results

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) announced its earnings results on Monday. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.28, Zacks reports. Nucor had a return on equity of 12.06% and a net margin of 8.05%.

Nucor Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE:NUE traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $121.98. The stock had a trading volume of 3,082,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,386,208. The business’s 50 day moving average is $130.66 and its 200-day moving average is $143.34. The company has a market cap of $28.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79 and a beta of 1.60. Nucor has a one year low of $112.25 and a one year high of $203.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.80%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 21.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

NUE has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.63.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at $13,636,254.72. The trade was a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total value of $1,860,210.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. The trade was a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

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.