Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.14 EPS

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.60 by ($0.14), RTT News reports. Nucor had a return on equity of 21.42% and a net margin of 13.03%. The firm had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $4.45 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Nucor updated its Q2 guidance to below $3.46 EPS.

Nucor Price Performance

Shares of Nucor stock opened at $191.74 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 3.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $46.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.66 and a beta of 1.61. The company has a fifty day moving average of $191.30 and a 200-day moving average of $174.06. Nucor has a 52-week low of $129.79 and a 52-week high of $203.00.

Nucor Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, March 28th will be issued a $0.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $2.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.13%. Nucor’s payout ratio is 12.01%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Nucor

In related news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Nucor news, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $193.67, for a total transaction of $609,092.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 24,873 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 5,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.37, for a total transaction of $1,025,035.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,902,206.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on NUE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Nucor from $180.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Citigroup upgraded Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com raised Nucor from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Nucor in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $210.00 target price on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $192.83.

Nucor Company Profile

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.