Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.55

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, June 10th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of 0.55 per share by the basic materials company on Monday, August 11th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 30th.

Nucor has a dividend payout ratio of 20.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Nucor to earn $10.99 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.20 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 20.0%.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:NUE opened at $117.17 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.51, a quick ratio of 1.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. Nucor has a 1-year low of $97.59 and a 1-year high of $170.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 1.68. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $124.26.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.92 by ($0.15). Nucor had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 6.60%. The business had revenue of $7.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $3.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Nucor will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NUE shares. Argus set a $155.00 price objective on Nucor in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Nucor from $175.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $164.00 price objective on shares of Nucor in a report on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Nucor from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $140.00 to $145.00 in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Nucor from $153.00 to $147.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $157.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Leon J. Topalian sold 34,238 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.19, for a total transaction of $4,115,065.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 162,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,590,128.67. This trade represents a 17.36% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.46% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Nucor

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in NUE. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Nucor by 81.8% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Nucor during the 1st quarter worth about $259,000. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Nucor by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 568 shares during the last quarter. 76.48% of the stock is owned by 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.