Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Trading 4.1% Higher

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE – Get Rating) shares traded up 4.1% on Friday . The company traded as high as $142.91 and last traded at $142.70. 7,462 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 100% from the average session volume of 1,652,297 shares. The stock had previously closed at $137.05.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Nucor to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 13th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Nucor from $120.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 6th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday, October 12th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $172.00 target price on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Nucor from $113.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $138.80.

Nucor Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $140.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $129.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 3.10. The company has a market cap of $36.92 billion, a PE ratio of 4.52 and a beta of 1.52.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 20th. The basic materials company reported $6.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.45 by $0.05. Nucor had a net margin of 19.93% and a return on equity of 51.03%. The company had revenue of $10.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.43 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.28 EPS. Nucor’s quarterly revenue was up 1.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor Co. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, February 10th. Investors of record on Friday, December 30th will be issued a $0.51 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 29th. This is an increase from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 6.41%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Gregory J. Murphy sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.29, for a total value of $411,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,802,582.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP John J. Hollatz sold 2,450 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $134.40, for a total value of $329,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 52,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,026,700.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gregory J. Murphy sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.29, for a total transaction of $411,870.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 49,549 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,802,582.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 8,450 shares of company stock valued at $1,145,280. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Nucor by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 15,803,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,356,620,000 after purchasing an additional 377,102 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 12.5% in the 2nd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,935,947 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $828,592,000 after purchasing an additional 878,821 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Nucor by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,214,321 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $557,840,000 after purchasing an additional 212,404 shares during the period. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Nucor by 14,509.4% in the 1st quarter. CFS Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,061,713 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 4,033,911 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,738,793 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $258,471,000 after purchasing an additional 176,738 shares during the period. 78.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Nucor Company Profile

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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.