Daniel Needham Sells 12,888 Shares of Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Stock

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) EVP Daniel Needham sold 12,888 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.00, for a total transaction of $2,912,688.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 89,724 shares in the company, valued at $20,277,624. This trade represents a 12.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Nucor Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of NUE stock traded up $6.75 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $232.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 692,322 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,667,306. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 2.90 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a market capitalization of $52.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $180.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.22. Nucor Corporation has a 1-year low of $106.21 and a 1-year high of $233.74.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 27th. The basic materials company reported $3.23 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.82 by $0.41. Nucor had a net margin of 6.82% and a return on equity of 10.68%. The company had revenue of $9.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.88 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.77 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Nucor Corporation will post 13.64 EPS for the current year.

Nucor declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Friday, February 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase $4.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the basic materials company to buy up to 9.7% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, May 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.56 per share. This represents a $2.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Nucor’s payout ratio is 22.18%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on NUE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Nucor from $240.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. UBS Group downgraded shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $190.00 to $224.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Nucor from $196.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Nucor by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,407,540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,633,554,000 after acquiring an additional 144,038 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 3,853,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $628,497,000 after purchasing an additional 41,728 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the 4th quarter worth about $609,002,000. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 20.1% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 3,042,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $412,081,000 after acquiring an additional 509,019 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Nucor by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,103,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $342,642,000 after acquiring an additional 210,577 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.48% 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.