Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.55 Per Share

Nucor Co. (NYSE:NUE) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 11th,RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.55 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $2.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.58%. This is a boost from Nucor’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.54.

Nucor has increased its dividend payment by an average of 8.7% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 51 years. Nucor has a payout ratio of 23.2% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Nucor to earn $9.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.16 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.3%.

Nucor Trading Down 0.8 %

NUE traded down $1.19 on Wednesday, hitting $139.37. 953,193 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,561,620. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.59. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $150.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $152.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $32.73 billion, a PE ratio of 13.58 and a beta of 1.55. Nucor has a 12 month low of $133.42 and a 12 month high of $203.00.

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.40 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $7.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.28 billion. Nucor had a net margin of 8.05% and a return on equity of 12.06%. The business’s revenue was down 15.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.57 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Nucor will post 8.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

NUE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Nucor from $175.00 to $160.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Nucor in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Nucor from $170.00 to $168.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Argus raised Nucor to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Nucor from $170.00 to $166.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $190.50.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 4,968 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $159.72, for a total value of $793,488.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,636,254.72. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Kenneth Rex Query sold 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.80, for a total transaction of $1,321,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 98,770 shares in the company, valued at $14,499,436. The trade was a 8.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 29,680 shares of company stock worth $4,773,724 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 0.64% of the company’s stock.

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.