Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Declares Stock Repurchase Plan

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Friday, February 20th, RTT News reports. The company plans to buyback $4.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the basic materials company to buy up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Nucor from $176.00 to $184.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. BNP Paribas Exane upped their price target on shares of Nucor from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Nucor from $182.00 to $196.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, January 31st. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.36.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock opened at $179.91 on Friday. Nucor has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $196.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 2.94 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $41.17 billion, a PE ratio of 23.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.86. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $155.31.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, January 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.91 by ($0.18). Nucor had a return on equity of 8.26% and a net margin of 5.37%.The company had revenue of $7.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.93 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.22 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Nucor will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.56 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 29.71%.

Nucor News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Nucor this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Board authorizes $4.0 billion share repurchase (up to ~9.7% of shares), signalling management believes shares are undervalued and should boost EPS/return of capital; supportive for the stock. RTT News: Stock Buybacks
• Positive Sentiment: Declared regular quarterly dividend of $0.56 (212th consecutive quarterly payout); payable May 11 to shareholders of record Mar 31. Dividend continuity reduces investor uncertainty and underscores free-cash-flow discipline (annualized yield ~1.2%). PR Newswire: Dividend & Repurchase Program
• Neutral Sentiment: Promotion of John L. “Jack” Sullivan to CFO, Treasurer & EVP — internal hire (Treasurer) that preserves continuity in finance leadership; reduces execution risk vs. an external hire but market impact depends on investors’ view of his track record. PR Newswire: CFO Promotion
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage piece on analyst sentiment — some Wall Street commentary is bullish, but investors should weigh recent fundamentals (Nucor missed EPS and revenue in its Jan quarter) against the new buyback/dividend actions. Yahoo Finance: Analyst Coverage

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 7,452 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.02, for a total value of $1,460,741.04. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 76,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,020,620.56. This represents a 8.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Thomas J. Batterbee sold 2,000 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.28, for a total transaction of $330,560.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,952 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,967,106.56. The trade was a 10.02% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 34,351 shares of company stock valued at $6,206,158. Company insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

About Nucor

Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE) is an American steel producer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company is primarily engaged in the manufacture and sale of steel and steel products, operating a network of steel mills, recycling facilities and fabrication plants across the United States and North America. Nucor’s operations emphasize electric arc furnace steelmaking using recycled scrap metal, which supports a decentralized, mill-based production model focused on efficiency and flexibility.

Product offerings span a broad range of basic and value‑added steel items, including sheet, plate, merchant bar, structural beams, reinforcing bar, tubing, fasteners and fabricated components.