Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) EVP Sells $3,772,655.46 in Stock

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) EVP Douglas J. Jellison sold 19,506 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.41, for a total value of $3,772,655.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 120,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,351,936.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Nucor Price Performance

NYSE NUE opened at $198.56 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.04 and a beta of 1.61. Nucor Co. has a 1 year low of $129.79 and a 1 year high of $198.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $184.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $168.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 3.57.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its earnings results on Monday, January 29th. The basic materials company reported $3.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.33. Nucor had a net margin of 13.03% and a return on equity of 21.42%. The company had revenue of $7.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.89 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 11.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Nucor Co. will post 14.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a dividend of $0.54 per share. This represents a $2.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 12.01%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on NUE. Citigroup upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Nucor from $151.00 to $158.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. UBS Group started coverage on Nucor in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $186.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of NUE. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Nucor during the 1st quarter valued at $48,000. Synovus Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Nucor by 150.6% in the first quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 7,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,067,000 after purchasing an additional 4,326 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 106.2% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 35,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,328,000 after purchasing an additional 18,488 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Nucor in the first quarter worth $284,000. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in Nucor in the first quarter worth $222,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.