Nucor (NYSE:NUE) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.16 EPS

Nucor (NYSE:NUE) announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The basic materials company reported $3.46 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by ($0.16), RTT News reports. Nucor had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 19.67%. The business had revenue of $8.14 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.26 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.45 EPS. Nucor’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. Nucor updated its Q2 guidance to below $3.46 EPS.

Nucor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE NUE traded down $1.98 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $172.66. 1,288,464 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,423,215. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $191.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 3.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.43 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23 and a beta of 1.61. Nucor has a 52-week low of $129.79 and a 52-week high of $203.00.

Nucor Dividend Announcement

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, March 27th. Nucor’s payout ratio is presently 12.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on NUE shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $210.00 to $200.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Nucor in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $210.00 price target for the company. Citigroup upgraded shares of Nucor from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $240.00 in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Nucor from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Nucor from $195.00 to $190.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Nucor currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.14.

Insider Transactions at Nucor

In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total transaction of $1,901,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Nucor news, EVP Allen C. Behr sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.19, for a total transaction of $1,901,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 80,902 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,386,751.38. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Michael D. Keller sold 3,145 shares of Nucor stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 24,873 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,817,153.91. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 38,151 shares of company stock worth $7,308,683 in the last quarter. 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.