Brokers Set Expectations for Nucor’s Q2 Earnings (NYSE:NUE)

Nucor Corporation (NYSE:NUE) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research raised their Q2 2026 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Nucor in a report released on Thursday, August 14th. Zacks Research analyst Team now expects that the basic materials company will post earnings of $3.03 per share for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $3.02. The consensus estimate for Nucor’s current full-year earnings is $7.64 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for Nucor’s Q3 2026 earnings at $2.75 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $9.30 EPS, Q2 2027 earnings at $3.23 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $12.72 EPS.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Nucor from $143.00 to $162.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $135.00 to $170.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised Nucor from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Nucor from $134.00 to $149.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $155.78.

Nucor Price Performance

NUE stock opened at $145.91 on Monday. Nucor has a 1 year low of $97.59 and a 1 year high of $170.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $136.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $127.15. The firm has a market cap of $33.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.34, a PEG ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.74.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.60 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.54 by $0.06. Nucor had a return on equity of 6.65% and a net margin of 4.21%.The business had revenue of $8.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.68 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.7% on a year-over-year basis.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 11th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were issued a $0.55 dividend. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 30th. Nucor’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.71%.

Insider Activity at Nucor

In related news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 8,021 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.38, for a total value of $1,150,050.98. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 82,703 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,857,956.14. This represents a 8.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.37, for a total value of $1,303,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 94,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,265,209.60. This represents a 9.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,109 shares of company stock worth $3,360,094. Corporate insiders own 0.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Nucor

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Berkshire Hathaway Inc purchased a new position in Nucor in the 2nd quarter valued at about $856,792,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Nucor in the 2nd quarter valued at about $479,858,000. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Nucor in the 1st quarter valued at about $194,804,000. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the 1st quarter valued at about $141,216,000. Finally, Greenwich Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Nucor in the 2nd quarter valued at about $123,145,000. 76.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.