Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Issues Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.28 EPS

Nucor (NYSE:NUE – Get Rating) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The basic materials company reported $7.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $7.39 by $0.28, Briefing.com reports. Nucor had a return on equity of 51.41% and a net margin of 18.71%. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.72 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.10 EPS. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was up 49.5% compared to the same quarter last year.

Shares of NUE stock opened at $169.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 2.48 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $140.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.26. Nucor has a 12 month low of $75.60 and a 12 month high of $173.00. The company has a market capitalization of $45.49 billion, a PE ratio of 7.24 and a beta of 1.33.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 31st will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 30th. Nucor’s payout ratio is currently 8.55%.

In other Nucor news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,600 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $154.58, for a total transaction of $556,488.00. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 3,014 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.40, for a total transaction of $432,207.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,639 shares of company stock worth $4,096,302 over the last ninety days. 0.46% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in NUE. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Nucor by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 144,608 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,507,000 after buying an additional 31,368 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Nucor during the fourth quarter worth about $2,079,000. Allstate Corp increased its stake in Nucor by 144.1% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 24,892 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,841,000 after purchasing an additional 14,696 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Nucor by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 701,976 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $80,131,000 after purchasing an additional 7,360 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its position in Nucor by 33.5% in the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 18,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,083,000 after buying an additional 4,582 shares during the period. 73.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on NUE. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Nucor from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 16th. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Wolfe Research cut shares of Nucor from a “peer perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $102.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, January 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Nucor from $107.00 to $108.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $128.27.

About Nucor (Get Rating)

Nucor Corporation manufactures and sells steel and steel products. The company's 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 products; and bar steel products, such as blooms, billets, concrete reinforcing and merchant bars, and special bar quality products.

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