Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.28 EPS

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The basic materials company reported $1.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.28, Zacks reports. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.16 EPS.

Nucor Stock Up 3.8 %

Shares of NUE stock opened at $126.55 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $29.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.23 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’s fifty day moving average price is $130.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $143.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 11th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.74%. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 21.26%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on NUE. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $156.00 target price (down previously from $171.00) on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $150.00 to $125.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $160.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Nucor from $168.00 to $152.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 17th. Four 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.63.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $169.11, for a total transaction of $1,860,210.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,109,918.96. This trade represents a 6.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 20,680 shares of company stock worth $3,452,524. 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.